A dihydroxybenzaldehyde Schiff base ligands (L1-L3) and its ruthenium(II) complexes, have been synthesized and characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, 1H, 13C, 31P NMR, mass spectra, UV-vis and IR spectra. The binding of ruthenium(II) complexes have been investigated by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The experiment reveals that all the compounds can bind to DNA through an electrostatic mode and intrinsic binding constant (Kb) has been estimated under similar set of experimental conditions. Absorption spectral study indicate that the ruthenium(II) complexes has intrinsic binding constant in the range of 1.6-8.6 X 104 M-1. The complex [Ru(CO)(PPh3)2(L3)] bind more strongly than that of the other complexes. In addition, DNA cleavage property were tested for all ruthenium(II) complexes.