A search of the Cambridge Structure Database for all copper (II) complexes with a 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane backbone was conducted. Eighty nine crystal structures were found which were analyzed using an agglomerative, hierarchical, single-link cluster analysis method. The cluster analysis effectively separated the different conformations and configurations of the macrocyclic complexes. Molecular mechanics was used to establish the effect of macrocyclic substituents on the conformations and configurations adopted by the copper(II) macrocyclic complexes. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.