Ni(II), Cu(II), Co(II) and Pd(II) complexes were synthesized with a Schiff base containing thioether with ONS-donors chelating to the metal center. The ligand and complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1 H-NMR, UV-visible spectroscopy and magnetic studies. The crystal structures of the ligand and its Ni(II) and Pd(II) complexes were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The structure reveals that ligand-chelated Ni(II) andPd(II) in slightly distorted octahedral and slightly distorted square planar environment, respectively. DFT studies of the Pd(II) complex reveal that the calculated structural parameters are very close with the experimentally observed data. The Cu(II) complex shows very good catalytic activity towards conversion of alcohol to aldehyde under aerobic oxidation with ammonium persulfate.