A diol-boric acid condensation is a simple type of CLICK reaction that can be applied to give a family of related ligands. It is exemplified by the reaction of 4'-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2,2':6',2 ''-terpyridine (1) with naphthalene-1-boronic acid. The single crystal structures of 1 center dot MeOH and [Fe(1)(2)][BF(4)](2)center dot 4H(2)O center dot 0.2CH(3)CN are presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.