The ligation behavior of the chalcone ligand namely (E)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) acrylic acid (ferulic acid) (FA) toward the Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions was determined. The structure of the isolated solid complexes was elucidated by elemen-tal analyses, spectral techniques (IR, UV–Vis, 13 C– and 1 H-NMR spectra) as well as the conductance measurements and thermal analyses. UV–Vis spectra and magnetic moments had suggested square planar and tetrahedral stereochemistry for Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes, respectively. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters for some selected decomposition steps have been calculated. Two precise and sensitive spectrophotometric methods were utilized to determine Zn(II) and Cu(II) complexes with ferulic acid using a micellar media of cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) with an absorption maxima of 430 and 465 nm for Zn(II) and Cu(II), respectively. Various analytical conditions, for example, the concentration of the reagent, temperature, the sequence and timing of addition were also looked into. Under optimum conditions, the complexes exhibited good linearity in concentration range of 2.0–70.0 and 4.0–140.0 µg  mL −1 ; molar absorptivities 1.3161 × 10 4 and 8.826 × 10 3 L mol −1   cm −1 ; and Sandell’s sensitivity 0.00496 and 0.00719 µg  cm −2 for the proposed methods of Zn(II) and Cu(II), respectively. The complexes ratio was found to be 1:2 [Zn(II):FA or Cu(II):FA] and the stability constants were 2.771 × 10 5 and 2.826 × 10 5 , respectively. Finally, the newly synthesized complexes were shown potent antimicrobial activity