The synthesis of a new ligand 2-pyridine-2-yl-3(pyridine-2-carboxylideneamino)-quinazolin-4(3H)-one (PPCAQ) is described together with its manganese(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) complexes. The single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of the ligand reveal the presence of two crystallographically independent molecules in asymmetric unit cell, which exhibit N...N attractive interaction. The PPCAQ and its metal complexes were characterized by analytical, spectroscopic (i.r., n.m.r and u.v.-vis), magnetic moment, conductance and thermal studies. The i.r. spectral studies reveal the ligational diversity of the PPCAQ towards different metal ions as NNN donor in cobalt(II), copper(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) complexes and as ONN donor in manganese(II) and nickel(II) complexes. The antimicrobial activity of all the compounds was tested; copper(II), zinc(II) and cadmium(II) complexes show enhanced antibacterial activity compared to the free ligand