A novel thiosemicarbazone from 2-acetonaphthone (represented as acnTSC) has been synthesized and its basic coordination chemistry with zinc(II), cobalt(II), and copper(II) explored. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis and various spectroscopic techniques and are best formulated as [M(acnTSC)(2)Cl(2)] with the metal likely in an octahedral environment. The anticancer activity of the complexes was determined against a panel of human colon cancer cells (HCT-116 and Caco-2). The compounds bind to DNA via an intercalative mode with binding constants of 9.7 × 10(4) M(-1), 1.8 × 10(5) M(-1), and 9.5 × 10(4) M(-1) for the zinc, cobalt, and copper complexes, respectively.