A series of mono-oxidized pyridine, bipyridine, terpyridine and pyridine/pyridazine frameworks were prepared using MnO 2 as oxidant. Corresponding Schiff bases were prepared with aromatic or aliphatic amines carrying various functions such as paraffin chains, terminal acrylates and a second nitrogen atom. Various flexible tethers have been used for the ditopic ligands synthesis. These ligands formed dinuclear helicates for the shorter chains. The dinuclear copper(I) complex prepared from the CH 2 -CH 2 bridge is aggregated in the solid state by a hydrogen bonded network of the residual primary alcohol groups. For the longer spacers the ditopic ligand wraps around a single copper(I) centre forming a mononuclear complex. A significant merit of this work is that it allows the preparation of ligands and complexes retaining the hydroxymethyl function, which are likely to help to stabilize multidimensional networks in the solid state.The development of the so-called Schiff base compounds has attracted a lot of interest in the fields of coordination chemistry and material sciences. 1,2 Metal complexes derived from such useful derivatives are known to form a large variety of molecular architectures, ranging from macrocyclic helicates to infinite coordination polymers. 3,4 In particular, 2-iminopyridine, 2,6-diiminopyridine and 6,6¢-diimino-2,2¢-bipyridine, readily formed via reversible reaction between an achiral or chiral amine and appropriate aldehydes, are attractive building blocks for assembling intricate supramolecular species and highly stable metallo-helicates. 5,6 The presence of a lone pair on the nitrogen atom of the imino group enables the coordination of numerous metal cations, especially when the imine function is located at the ortho position of the heterocycle such as pyridine. 7 These ligands can display specific binding behavior towards metal cations, some are reminiscent of 2,2¢-bipyridine as in A, 2,2¢:6¢,2¢¢-terpyridine as in B and 2,6,2¢,6¢-quaterpyridine as in C (Figure 1). Notice that in this last case the ligand can adopt a bridging mode of coordination of type D. Recently, various molecules found interesting applications as ligands in various homogeneous catalytic reactions such as hydrosilation, Mukaiyama aldolization and cyclopropanation, 8 homologation of aromatic aldehydes, 9 and ethylene polymerization. [10][11][12] In the domain of material science, the main advantage in the use of Schiff base ligands relates to the availability of a free imino site that can be functionalized with a wide variety of appendages, such as paraffin tails, highly polarized molecular units or fragments bearing specific physical properties. Along these lines we discovered that assembling non-mesomorphic but lipid-like ligands bearing in close proximity to the central core of two imino functions around d-block transition metals promotes the formation of a liquid-crystalline state. 13-15 One of the key element of this approach lies in the helix rigidity and polarizability to counterbalance the flexibility and non-po...