The 1,4-bis((1H-imidazoyl-1-yl)methyl)benzene (BIB) ligand offers the opportunity to bridge two metal sites in either a syn or anti fashion. The ligand possesses enough degrees of freedom to elongate slightly in the anti-conformation, and so accommodate any structural alterations that might be required in coordination polymer formation. The coordination properties of BIB were tested by its reaction with benzene 1,3,5tricarboxylic acid (TCA) and nickel(II) under hydrothermal conditions. Two different colored solids were produced, the first one is green (TN1) whereas the second is more blue (TN2). The first point to note is that the asymmetric units for each of the structures are very similar and comprise of [Ni2(BIB)(TCA)(OH)]. A very subtle difference in the two structures is related to BIB, and the slight elongation of the ligand in TN1. In both cases the ligand is in the anti-arrangement. Even though there are many similar features for TN1 and TN2 on the macromolecular scale, the real diversity for the structures is evident at the individual nickel(II) cluster level. For TN1 the four nickel(II) ions arrange to create a chair-like conformation (see the figure). Two of the nickel(II) centers are basically five coordinate, and the structures are best described as square-based pyramids. The bond angles for the other two nickel(II) ions suggest a six coordinate distorted octahedral geometry. The nickel(II) cluster for TN2 resembles more like a square (see the figure). It is worth noting that the nickel(II)-nickel(II) separation distances are remarkably similar for two very different arrangements of ions.