tridentate ligand 1-(2-aminoethyl)-3-methyl-3-(2-pyridyl)azetidine at its terminal amino-nitrogen atom can be readily achieved by both reductive alkylation and simple alkylation reactions to give tri-, quadri-, quinque- and sexi-dentate derivatives. Simple alkylation by 2-picolinyl chloride provides the only example of a second reaction pathway where the azetidine ring of the reactant has undergone activation