“…The solid manganese and cadmium complexes with L 5 have nearly prismatic structures, [34,35] a geometry that is preferred in solution by some lanthanide complexes with L 6 . [36] Generally, the eight donors of the octadentate ligands L 1 ϪL 6 are also considered to be bound to the metal ion in solution, a notable exception being the seven-coordinate magnesium complex with 1,4,7,10-tetrakis(2-methoxyethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (L 4 ), which has the oxygen of a pendant arm uncoordinated. [10] Most of the complexes undergo dynamic behaviour in solution, which has been rationalized in terms of an exchange process between two enantiomers, [29,30] at rates within the 13 C NMR timescale.…”