The coordination properties of the calix[6]arene-based tris-(imidazole) ligand X6Me3Imme3 were further explored with CoII and NiII. This imidazole system stabilizes tetrahedral mononuclear CoII complexes with an exchangeable fourth exogenous ligand (water, alcohol, amide) located at the heart of the hydrophobic calixarene cavity. With a weak donor ligand such as a nitrile, both four-coordinate tetrahedral and five-coordinate trigonal bipyramidal complexes were obtained. The latter contains a second nitrile molecule trans to the included guest nitrile. These complexes were characterized in solution as well as in the solid state. The NiII complexes are square-based pyramidal five-coordinate edifices with a guest nitrile inside the cavity and a water molecule outside. A comparison with previously described ZnII and CuII complexes emphasizes the flexibility of this ligand. A comparison with carbonic anhydrase, a mononuclear zinc enzyme with a tris(histidine) coordination core, shows that X6Me 3Imme3 displays many structural features of this enzyme except for the cis coordination of the exogenous ligands. © Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2004.