The syntheses, the solution structures, and the crystal structures of the two new tetrapodal N-donor ligands N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-pyrazylmethyl)-1,3-trimethylenediamine (tpztn), 1, and N,N,N',N'-tetraki s (2-pyrazylmethyl)-trans-1,2-cyclohexanediamine (tpzcn), 2, are described. Two different geometric isomers of the cation [La(tpztn)I-2](+) were isolated in which the ligand adopts two different conformations leading to strong differences in the metal-ligand bond distances. The crystal structure of isostructural complexes of La, U, Ce, and Nd were determined by X-ray diffraction studies for the ligands tpztn and tpzcn. In both series of complexes the two methylpyrazyl arms and the diamine spacer (trimethylene or cyclohexane) around each aliphatic nitrogen adopt the same helical configuration. The complexes crystallize as a racemic mixture of A,A and A,A enantiomers with distorted square antiprism geometries. In these complexes the M-N-pyrazine distances show a decrease from La to Ce and from La to Nd which corresponds well to the decrease in ionic radius as expected in a purely ionic bonding model. Conversely the mean value of the U-N-pyrazine distances is shorter (0.043(3) Angstrom for tpztn and 0.054(11) Angstrom for tpzcn) than the mean value of the La-N-pyrazine distances. These differences are significantly larger than the decrease expected from the variation of the ionic radii and can be interpreted in terms of a stronger M-N interaction for U(III). Previously reported extraction studies have shown that while the tripod tris[(2-pyrazyl)methyl]amine (tpza) containing three pyrazyl nitrogens extracts An(III) preferentially to Ln(III), tpztn and tpzcn display no selectivity despite the presence of four pyrazyl groups connected to a different spacer. The structural studies described here show that despite the lack of selectivity observed in the extraction conditions, the arrangement of pyrazyl nitrogens in the tetrapodal architectures of tpztn and tpzcn allows for metal-ligand interaction similar to that observed for tpza.