Yes / One-pot reaction between 8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxaldehyde (HQC) and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (TRIS) followed by in situ cyclization yielded an oxazolidine based ligand which produced four mononuclear complexes of MnII(1), CoII(2), NiII(3), ZnII(4), a tetranuclear iron (FeIII4) complex (5) and a trinuclear cobalt (CoIICoIII2) complex (6). Magnetic studies show dominant antiferromagnetic interaction in tetranuclear iron (FeIII4) complex 5 and presence of the slow relaxation of magnetisation in 6. The compounds were also studied for their antibacterial properties. The oxazolidine ligand (H3L2) of this study showed good antimicrobial activity not only against Gram-positive bacteria but against Gram-negative bacteria too. The antimicrobial efficacy of the metal complexes (1–6) is also reported.