A comprehensive study using sixteen different metal ions was conducted, in order to test the possibility of substituting one or more Cu2+ ions in nanojars, [anion subset of{Cu(mu-OH)(mu-pz)}(n)](2) (n = 27-32; anion = CO32 or SO42 ), with Zn2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Fe2+, Fe3+, Mn2+, Cr3+, VO2+, Cd2+, Ag+, Pd2+, Ce4+, Sn2+, Pb2+, Pr3+ or Nd3+. An octanuclear nickel complex was isolated in the case of Ni2+, which inspired the synthesis of a series of (Bu4N)(2)[Ni-8(mu(4)-OH)(6)(mu-4-Rpz)(12)] (R = H, Me, (n)Oct) complexes. Characterization was carried out in the solid state by X-ray crystallography and thermogravimetric analysis, and, for the first time for this type of complexes, in solution phase by variable-temperature H-1 NMR spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy and electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.