Syntheses and crystal structures of 1,3-bis[(pyrid-2-ylamino)carbonyl]adamantane (1) and its perchlorate salt, copper(II) complex, and 1:1 complexes with a large variety of simple and functionalized 1,omega-alkanedicarboxylic acids, HOOC-X-COOH [X=(CH2)(n), n=2, 3, 5, and 8; -CH2-CO (alpha-ketoglutaric acid); CH=CH (maleic acid)] are described. The molecule 1 exhibits remarkable adaptability with respect to the conformation of its two hydrogen-bonding subunits to suit the requirements of the assembling partners so as to generate persistently one-dimensional motifs, for example, infinite zig-zag ribbons with perchlorate ions and chains with both Cu(II) ions and dicarboxylic acids.