Currently, some quinoline-based anticancer drugs are successful repurposed for treatment of bacterial infections. This study assessed the antibacterial activity of the new anticancer compound 4,7-dichloro-2-quinolinemethylacrylate (AQM) against bacteria of both clinical and agricultural interest, and also determined the influence of some metal cations (Fe3+, Mn2+, Zn2+, Na+, Mg2+, Co2+ and Ni2+) on the AQM photophysics. The synthesis of AQM was carried out by the reported method. The antibacterial activity of AQM on Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum (Pcc), Ralstonia solanacearum, Klebsiella pneuminiae, Pseudomonas syringae, Staphylococcus aureus y Bacillus sp., was evaluated using the spectrophotometric method of broth microdilution. At 125 ppm, AQM produced growth inhibition of 51.7% in Pcc, and a bacteriostatic effect in S. aureus and Bacillus sp., but no effect was seen against the other bacteria. In addition, fluorescence quenching of AQM solution induced only by Fe3+ ion, and not by the other metal cations, was confirmed. These results postulate that AQM could be a molecule with potential application in antibacterial therapy or in the fluorometric detection of Fe3+ ions.