The syntheses and metal complexes of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(8-quinolyloxymethyl)benzene 1 and hexakis(8-quinolyloxymethyl)benzene 2 are described. X-Ray crystal structures are reported of the free ligand 1, a binuclear silver(i) and a tetranuclear copper(i) complex of 1, as well as a binuclear cobalt(ii) and trinuclear palladium(ii) and silver(i) complexes of 2. Within these discrete metal complexes the ligands are found to adopt a range of coordination modes, with considerable variation in the relative orientations of the ligand arms as a result of the flexibility imparted by the CH₂O linker units.