Novel 1-[(1-Phenyl-1H-tetrazol-5-ylimino)-methyl]-naphthalen-2-ol (PTMN) ligand, [Cu(PTMN) ClH 2 O] and [Co(PTMN)ClH 2 O] complexes have been synthesized. Characterization of the obtained compounds were performed by 1 H-NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, Mass spectrometry and thermo-analytical study. The morphology of compounds were determined by SEM, while EDX study was employed to identify elements in ligand and the metal complexes. Metal-ligand compositions were analyzed spectrophotometrically using Job's continuous-variation method. pH-metric technique was carried out to give the quantity of dissociable protons and protonation sites in the obtained compound. The ligand [Cu(PTMN)ClH 2 O] and [Co(PTMN)ClH 2 O] complexes were tested for in vitro antimicrobial properties against YEPDA, Gram-positive and negative bacteria. It was observed that metal complexes showed enhanced antimicrobial potential as compared to the free ligand. In addition, [Cu(PTMN) ClH 2 O] complex indicated greater antimicrobial activity against most of microbial strains as compared to the ligand and [Co(PTMN)ClH 2 O] complex.