Two new copper complexes with triethanolamine (H 3 L) have been prepared using copper powder and characterized by X-ray crystallography, IR and EPR spectroscopy. These are [Cu I (H 3 L)Cl] x [Cu I I (H 2 L)Cl] 1 - x (X=0; 2/3) (1) and [Cu I I (H 2 L)SCN] (2). Both complexes are neutral species and contain copper atoms in trigonal bipyramidal environments. The important dimensions in 1 are Cu-N 2.011(5), 3Cu-O 2.073(3), Cu-Cl 2.239(2) Å and N-Cu-Cl=180.0 o ; in 2 Cu-N N C S 1.918(3), Cu-N H 2 T e a 1.983(3), Cu-O 2.004(2), 2Cu-O 2.13(1) Å and N H 2 T e a -Cu-N N C S =174.6(1) o . 2 has all the copper atoms in the oxidation state II, while the three-fold symmetry in 1 would suggest that the metal atoms are formally in the oxidation state I. Results of magnetic measurements of several samples of 1 are rationalized by assuming that a continuous range of composition for [Cu I (H 3 L)Cl] x [Cu I I (H 2 L)Cl] 1 - x can occur. In the case of x=0, 1 becomes a polymorph of the reported compound [Cu I I (H 2 L)Cl].