Abstract Potentiometric titrations, absorption and e.p.r. spectra were used to establish coordination equilibria in Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) solutions with tetramethylenodihydroxamic acid and hexamethyleno-N,N′-diethylodihydroxamic acid. Results have shown that in all systems the major complexes formed at basic pH are dinuclear species. The complexes formed by dihydroxamic acids were found to be distinctly more stable than those of monohydroxamic acids.