Zinc-imidazole complexes are reported to enhance the rate of hydrolysis of RNA to nearly the same extent as zinc-amine complexes and zinc alone. The imidazole containing ligands are easily synthesized. Ligand 1 binds zinc with an association constant of (9 +/- 1) x 10(4) M(-1), and possesses a metal bound water with a pK(a) of 7.4 +/- 0.1. These zinc complexes should prove quite useful in elucidating the mechanism of Zn-OH-promoted RNA hydrolysis.