Metal complexes of 2-methyl-1H-benzimidazole-5-carboxylic acid hydrazide (4a; L(1)) and its Schiff base 2-methyl-N-(propan-2-ylidene)-1H-benzimidazole-5-carbohydrazide (5a; L(2)) with transition metal ions e.g., copper, silver, nickel, iron and manganese were prepared. The complexes formed were 1:1 or 1:2 M:L complexes and have the structural formulae [Cu(L(1))Cl(H(2)O)]Cl x 3 H(2)O (6), [Ag(L(1))NO(3)(H(2)O)] (7), [Ni(L(1))Cl(2)(H(2)O)(2)] x H(2)O (8), [Fe(L(1))Cl(3)(H(2)O)] x 3 H(2)O (9) and [Mn(L(1))(2)Cl(H(2)O)]Cl x 3 H(2)O (10) for ligand L(1), and [Cu(L(2))Cl(2)(H(2)O)(2)] x H(2)O (11), [Ag(L(2))(2)]NO(3) x H(2)O (12), [Ni(L(2))(2)Cl(2)] x 5 H(2)O (13), [Fe(L(2))(2)Cl(2)]Cl x 2 H(2)O (14) and [Mn(L(2))Cl(2)(H(2)O)(2)] x H(2)O (15) for ligand L(2). The antitumor activity of the synthesized compounds has been studied. The silver complex 7 was found to display cytotoxicity (IC(50)=2 microM) against both human lung cancer cell line A549 and human breast cancer cell line MCF-7.