The dicopper complexes of two dinucleating ligands derived from 2-methylimidazole and 2 equiv. of an L-amino acid are presented (H 3 bphenim derived from L-phenylalanine and H 3 bleuim derived from L-leucine). For each ligand L, three different protonation states for the complex, Cu 2 HL 2+ , Cu 2 L + , and Cu 2 LOH, have been characterized in solution by potentiometric, spectrophotometric, and electrochemical techniques. X-ray diffraction studies enabled the characterization, in the solid state, of the [Cu 2 (bphenim)] + and [Cu 2 Hbleuim] 2+ cations. Magnetic measurements showed that while only a very slight coupling could be detected in [a]