A synthesis of new chiral dihalo palladium(II)-(5,7) and nickel(II) (6,8) complexes bearing the ligands N,N'-bis{(-)-(cis)-myrtanylibutylene-2,3-diimine (BMDI, 3) and the conformationally constrained bisoxazoline ligand ((1R,2S)-inda-box, 4) is described. Reaction of [(TMEDA)Pd(CH3)Cl] (TMEDA: N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine) with 4 followed by chloride abstraction with NaB(Ar-r)(4) in the presence of CH3CN afforded the solvent stabilized, monoalkyl complex [(4)Pd(NCCH3)(CH3)]B(Ar-f)(4) (9) (Ar-f: 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene). The solid state structure of the dichloro palladium(II) complex [{(1R,2S)-inda-box; PdCl2] (7) was determined by X-ray structure analysis. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.