3-Methoxysalicylaldehyde was condensed with the amines 4-aminoacetophenone and 2-amino-5bromopyridine to obtain Schiff base ligands, 1 and 2, which were coordinated to cobalt salts as complex 1 and complex 2, respectively. The synthesized ligands and complexes were characterized by spectroscopic (FT-IR, UV-Vis, H-1-NMR and mass spectrometry), thermal (TGA) and elemental analysis. The structures of the complexes were verified by evaluating their magnetic susceptibility and spectroscopic evidences. Synthesized complexes were studied for their catalytic activity in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of aryl halides with phenylboronic acid. Optimized reaction yields 90% of the cyanobiphenyl for complex 1 and 91% for complex 2 with 0.1 mmol of catalyst loading thereby substantiating the C-C coupling efficiency of the synthesized complexes, 1 and 2. (C) 2018 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.