A systematic synthesis and X-ray structural analysis have been made for several manganese derivatives with pyridine-2-methanol as a chelating ligand; neutral Mn(C5NH4-2-CH2OH)(2)(C6F5CO2)(2) (1), trans-[Mn(C5H4N-2-CH2-OH)(2){C6F4-1,4-(CO2)(2)}](infinity) (2), cis-[Mn(C5H4N-2-CH2-OH)(2){C6F4-1,3-(CO2)(2)}](infinity) (3), {Mn(C5H4N-2-CH2-OH)(2)(4,4'-bipyridine)(ClO4)}(infinity) (4), and Mn(C5H4N-2-CH2-OH)(3)(ClO4)(2)(4,4-azopiridine) (pyridine-2-methanol) (5) are our results. 1 and 5 are monomers, while 2-4 are polymers. An oxidation state of the manganese ion in 1, 2, 3, and 5 is 2(+), while that of 4 is suggested to be 3(+). The magnetic data of 4 down to 2 K are measured. The length of the linker ligand has been suggested to afford a crucial effect on the dimensionality of the product. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.