The VO(IV) complexes of tridentate ONN Schiff ligands were synthesized and characterized by IR, UV–Vis and elemental analysis. The electrochemical properties of the vanadyl complexes were investigated by cyclic voltammetry. A good correlation was observed between the oxidation potentials and the electron-withdrawing character of the substituents on the Schiff base ligands, showing the following trend: MeO\H\Br\NO2. The thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermoanalysis (DTA) of the VO(IV) complexes were carried out in the range of 20–700 C. The VOL1(OH2) and VOL2(OH2) decomposed in three steps, whereas the VOL3(OH2) and VOL4(OH2) complexes decomposed in two steps. The thermal decomposition of these complexes is closely related to the nature of the Schiff base ligands and proceeds via first-order kinetics. The structures of compounds were determined by ab initio calculations. The optimized molecular geometry and atomic charges were calculated using MP2 method with 6-31G(d) basis. The results suggested that, in the complexes, V(IV) ion is in square-pyramid N2O3 coordination geometry. Also the bond lengths and angles were studied and compared.
