A new highly rigid ditopic ligand has been prepared which consists of a terpy fragment connected through its 4′ position to the 3 position of a phen nucleus via a 1, 4-phenylene linker. The chemical structure of the presently reported two-chelate ligand is such that the coordination axes of the two chelates are orthogonal to one another. The reaction of this phen–terpy conjugate with Zn2+ affords in good yield a dimeric structure, as shown by ES- ...