Abstract The preparation, X-ray crystallography and magnetic investigation of the first examples of methanetriacetate (mta)-containing lanthanide (III) complexes of formulae [Gd (mta)(H 2 O) 3] n⋅ 4 n H 2 O (1)[Gd (mta)(H 2 O) 3] n⋅ 2 n H 2 O (2) and [Gd 2 (mta) 2 (H 2 O) 2] n⋅ 2 n H 2 O (3) are described herein. This tripodal ligand promotes the formation of 6 3 networks; thus 1 consists of a honeycomb structure, whereas in 2 two of these layers are ...