Two metal-organic complexes of [CuLCl] (1), and [Ni2L2(C2H5OH)(2)Cl-2]center dot 2(C2H5OH)(2)(2) (HL= 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde-4-aminoantipyrine) were solvothermally synthesized from Schiff-base ligands. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the mononuclear complex 1 is monoclinic while the dinuclear complex 2 belongs to triclinic crystal structure and the two complexes are both monomer molecules. Additionally, the cancer cytotoxicity, cell migration, and apoptosis properties of both complexes have been investigated. Owing to different coordination behavior between Ni(II) and Cu(II), it was found that com-plex 1 obviously displayed cytotoxicity and decreased cell migration rate by inducing apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells (hepatoma carcinoma cells). (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V.