A series of 1,4,8,11-tetraazabicyclo[6.6.2]hexadecane ligands, including the parent compound, N,N‘-dialkyl variants, and the first N,N‘-di-pendant-arm derivatives have been synthesized by a short, efficient, and
conceptually novel approach. Their copper(II) complexes have been prepared, and four of these were structurally
characterized by X-ray diffraction. In all four complexes, the cross-bridged tetraamine ligand was found to be
cis-folded, coordinating the metal cation within its molecular cleft using all four nitrogen lone pairs. Geometries
intermediate between idealized square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal coordination were found for three
of the complexes, whereas a distorted octahedral copper coordination was found for the complex of a di-pendant-arm cross-bridged cyclam.