The coordination sites of the antimalarial drug mefloquine (L) were studied. Reactions of the chloro bridged complexes (allyl)Pd(mu-Cl)(2)Pd(allyl) and (R3P)-(Cl)M(mu-Cl)(2)M(Cl)(PR3) (M = Pd, Pt) with racemic mefloquine give the compounds (allyl)(Cl)Pd(L) (1), Cl-2(Et3P)Pt(L) (2) and Cl-2(Et3P)Pd(L) (3) with coordination of the piperidine N atom of mefloquine. In the presence of NaOMe the N,O-chelate complexes Cl(Et3P)Pt(L-H+) (4) and Cl(R3P)Pd(L-H+) (5, 6, R = Et, nBu) were obtained. Protection of the piperidine N atom of mefloquine by protonation allows the synthesis of the complexes Cl-2(Et3P)Pt(L + H+) (7) in which mefloquine is coordinated via the quinoline N atom. The structures of 2, 3 and 4 were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. In the crystal of 4 pairs of enantiomers are found which are linked by two hydrogen bridges between the amine group and the chloro ligand.