A macrocyclic compound that has two salenH(2) moieties was synthesised via recombination of an acyclic Schiff base in quite high yield, and was characterized by X-ray crystallography. The recombination occurred in a slow diffusion system of chloroform-methanol, where the starting material may spontaneously form a molecular assembly suitable for the subsequent reaction. This assumption was supported by the crystal structure of an analogue of the acyclic Schiff base. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.