Dedicated to Professor Dieter Seebach on the occasion of his 65th birthdayThe pseudo-square-planar complexes [Rh(cod)(Hbbtm)]BF 4 (3), [Rh(bbte)(cod)]BF 4 (4), [Rh(CO) 2 (Hbbtm)]BF 4 (5), [Rh(bbte)(CO) 2 ]BF 4 (6), [Rh(bbtm)(cod)] (7) and [Rh(bbtm)(CO) 2 ] (8) (Hbbtm bis(benzothiazol-2-yl)methane 2,2'-methylenebis[benzothiazole], bbte bis(benzothiazol-2-yl)ethane 2,2'-(ethane-1,2-diyl)bis[benzothiazole], and cod cycloocta-1,5-diene) were synthesized and characterized. Diastereotopic protons were observed for the protons at the bridge in the 1 H-NMR of 3 and 5. Twisting of the ethane-1,2-diyl bridge in 4 and 6 effects chemical equivalence of the CH 2 groups in solution. Unusually large downfield shifts occur on coordination of the deprotonated ligand Hbbtm as the negative charge is delocalized in 7 and 8. The NMR signals of the cod ligand in 4 could be differentiated. The X-ray crystal structures of 3, 4, and 6 are reported.Introduction. ± Our interest in rhodium complexes that contain ligands similar to compounds in biological systems has been raised since the successful use of rhodium complexes with H 2 O-soluble biopolymers (human-serum albumin) as ligands in the hydroformylation of olefins [1]. Several groups have described the synthesis, characterization, and application of rhodium(I) complexes containing five-membered heterocycles in homogeneous catalytic transformations [2 ± 11].[Rh(CH 2 {mBnzim} 2 )(CO) 2 ]BPh 4 and [Rh(CH 2 {mim} 2 )(CO) 2 ]BPh 4 (mBnzim methylbenzimidazolyl and mim methylimidazolyl) have been structurally characterized [2] and used in the intramolecular hydroamination of terminal and nonterminal alkynes [3] and the cyclization of acetylenic carboxylic acids and acetylenic alcohols to afford O-containing heterocycles [4]. The methylene-bridge protons undergo exchange in deuterated solvents once the ligand is coordinated to the metal center. Accordingly, deprotonation of Hbbom (bis(2-benzoxazol-2-yl)methane) and reaction with [RhCl(CO) 2 ] 2 yielded [Rh(bbom)(CO) 2 ], but this complex proved to be a weak catalyst precursor for the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline [5].Oro and co-workers [6] have described the synthesis and structural characterization of mononuclear and binuclear rhodium(I) complexes with the general formulae [{RhCl(CH 2 (pz) 2 )(cod)} 2 ], [Rh(CH 2 (pz) 2 )(cod)]ClO 4 and [Rh(CH 2 (pz) 2 )(CO) 2 ]ClO 4 (CH 2 (pz) 2 bis(pyrazolyl)methane). Hydroformylation of hex-1-ene and heptenes are catalysed by [Rh 2 (CO) 2 {P(OPh) 3 } 2 (m-pz) 2 ] [7] and [Rh{P(OPh) 3 } 2 (pz)] 2 [8] (pz pyrazolato) under mild conditions. Evidence that binuclear [Rh 2 Cl 2 (cod) 2 (L)] complexes that contain bidentate NN' and tridentate NN'N 1-(alkylamino)pyrazoles exist as ionic species was recently presented [10]. Substitution of a CO ligand in