Three azo group-containing Schiff base ligands, namely 1-{3-[(3-hydroxypropylimino) methyl]-4-hydroxyphenylazo}-4-nitrobenzene (2a), 1-{3-[(3-hydroxypropylimino) methyl]-4-hydroxyphenylazo}-2-chloro-4-nitrobenzene (2b) and 1-{3-[(3-hydroxypropylimino) methyl]-4-hydroxyphenylazo}-4-chloro-3-nitrobenzene (2c) were prepared. The ligands were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, ¹³C- and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Next the corresponding copper(II) and cobalt(II) metal complexes were synthesized and characterized by the physicochemical and spectroscopic methods of elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, magnetic moment measurements, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and (DSC). The room temperature effective magnetic moments of complexes are 1.45, 1.56, 1.62, 2.16, 2.26 and 2.80 B.M. for complexes 3a, 3b, 3c, 4a 4b, and 4c, respectively, indicating that the complexes are paramagnetic with considerable electronic communication between the two metal centers.