66[Pt2C12(C~4H3oN254)]2+.2PF6 molecules which are related by a crystallographic twofold axis. A related NS2C1 donor set has been reported for a series of binuclear macrocyclic complexes of Pd n (Lehn, Parker & Rimmer, 1985 In the 1:1 complex of the Na ÷ 16-crown-5 cation and the tetraphenylborate anion the sodium ion is 0-77 A above the crown center and is coordinated to the five oxygen atoms of the crown and to O(1) of the sugar moiety belonging to a symmetry-related molecule via the screw axis in the z direction. The integration of the 1,6-anhydro sugar fragment into the 16-crown-5 ether does not affect the rather rigid conformation of this fused ring system but causes certain changes in the crown ether geometry when compared to a previously determined 16-crown-5 complex.