E)-N-Benzylidenepicolinohydrazide (Hbphz) was used to synthesize a series of hydrazonatobridged homodinuclear Ln III 2 dithiocarbamato (RR'dtc -) complexes of the form [{Ln(RR' dtc)2}2(µ-bphz)2] {Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm or Eu; RR' = dimethyl-(Me2) or pyrrolidine-(pyr)}.X-ray crystallographic studies revealed that these complexes possessed a common head-to-tail type dinuclear structural motif in which two hydrazonato ligands bridged two Ln III centers in the -1 2 N(py),O:2 2 O,N(imine) mode and two RR'dtc ligands coordinated to each Ln III center. Interestingly, while the Sm III and Eu III complexes crystallized as simple 8:8-coordinate dinuclear molecules, the lighter Ln III (i.e. La III , Pr III and Nd III ) complexes afforded in some cases 9:9-coordinate molecules, where the ninth coordination site was occupied by a solvent ethanol or methanol molecule. Even for the lighter Ln III complexes, the complexes were solved in dichloromethane or chloroform as the 8:8-coordinate dimer, as revealed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy. In the UV-visible absorption and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra of the complexes, similar spectral patterns for ligand-centered and Laporte forbidden f-f transitions were observed. The MCD spectral studies demonstrated the characteristic magnetooptical behavior of the complexes.