A novel histamine-saccharine complex, [Cd( His) 2( Sac) 2], is investigated by X-ray diffraction, infrared (IR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. In the complex, histamine has N-tau-H tautomeric form. The crystal packing is stabilized by N-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds forming R(2)(2)d(16) and R(4)(2)d(4) ring patterns. In EPR study, the angular variation of the spectra of Cu2+ doped Cd(His) 2(Sac)(2) single crystal shows that two different Cu2+ complexes are located in different chemical environments. Each environment contains one magnetically distinct Cu2+ site occupying substitutional position in the lattice. The vibrational investigation has been carried out on the basis of some characteristic IR bands of histamine and saccharine molecules. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.