By reaction of Cu2CO3(OH)(2) and H(4)EGTA with or without imidazole, the compounds [Cu-2(EGTA)(H2O)(2)] center dot 2H(2)O (1), [Cu-2(EGTA)(Him)(2)](n) (2) and [Cu-2(EGTA)(Him)(4)] center dot 4H(2)O (3) have been prepared. The EGTA acts in a mu(2)-bridging mode, with each half being tripodal-tetradentate in mer-NO2+ O(ether, apical) or NO + O(carboxy, apical) + O(ether, apical) conformation for compounds 1 and 2 or 3 and [Cu-2(EGTA)(en)(2)] center dot 4H(2)O (4), respectively, as expected from the number of N donor atoms (0 and 1 or 2) supplied by the auxiliary ligands. The Cu-O(ether) bond length increases in the series 1 < 2 < 3 < 4, mainly influenced by the coordination number (5 or 6) of the copper(II) atom, the influence of the Jahn-Teller effect on it, giving from 4 + 1 to 4 + 1 + 1 surroundings, and the number of N atoms (1 to 3) among the four closest donor of the Cu(II) atom.