Two mixed-ligand oxovanadium(IV) complexes with a Schiff base derived from o-vanillin and leucine and 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2´-bipyridine as a co-ligand, [VO(o-van-Leu)phen] (1) and [VO(o-van-Leu)bipy]·H₂O (2), were prepared and structurally characterized by IR spectra, elemental analyses and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structures reveal that each oxovanadium(IV) atom in complexes 1 and 2 is surrounded by a N3O3 coordination sphere to form a distorted octahedron with a Schiff base and neutral bidentate ligand phen or bipy. Hirshfeld surface analyses and 2D fingerprint plots indicated that the molecular packings in crystals were dominated by H···H, O···H/H···O, C···H/H···C and π-π interactions. The interactions of both complexes with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by using various spectroscopic and molecular docking methods. BSA binding constants (K), estimated by UV–Vis spectroscopy, were 2.53 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ for 1 and 3.18 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ for 2, respectively. Together with results of fluorescence and CD spectral studies, it showed that complex 2 has a better affinity for BSA than complex 1. Molecular docking investigation indicated that the two complexes had the similar mode of binding and located within subdomain IIA of BSA. Complex 2 had greater binding activity with the binding free energy (∆G_binding) of –6.5 kcal/mol than Complex 1 with ∆G_binding of–5.42 kcal/mol, consisting with the analyses of spectroscopic experimental results.