A new Mannich base 2-(pyrrolidin-1-ylmethyl)isoindoline-1,3-dione was synthesized by the condensation of phthalimide, formaldehyde and pyrrolidine and was characterized on the basis of elemental analysis and IR, UV-visible, 1 H and 13 C NMR data. Cobalt(II) and nickel(II) complexes of new Mannich base were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, electrical conductance, electronic and IR spectra, magnetic measurements, thermal analysis and cyclic voltammetric studies. From IR data, it is inferred that the ligand is neutral bidentate bonding through pyrrolidine ring containing nitrogen and one of the two carbonyl oxygens. The magnetic moment values and electronic spectral data show that all the complexes studied are tetrahedral except Co(II) chloro complex. The electrochemical studies show that Co(II)/Co(I) redox couple exists during electrolysis. Thermal results indicate that Co(II) sulphato and Ni(II) chloro complexes undergo two stage decompositions to produce CoSO4 and NiO, respectively as final residues and that the ligand forms a polymer of formaldehyde as an intermediate. The antimicrobial activity measured by the agar well diffusion method showed that the metal complexes are more active than the ligand probably because of the chelation effect.