Cobalt cations are open shell systems with several possible electronic states arising from the different occupations of the 3d and 4s orbitals. The influence of these occupations on the relative stability of the coordination modes of the metal cation to glycine has been studied by means of theoretical methods. The structure and vibrational frequencies have been determined using the B3LYP method. Single-point calculations have also been carried out at the CCSD(T) level. The most stable structure of Co(+)-glycine is bidentate, with the Co(+) cation interacting with the amino group and the carbonyl oxygen of neutral glycine, and the ground electronic state being (3)A. For Co(2+)-glycine, the lowest energy structure corresponds to the interaction of the metal cation with the carboxylate group of the zwitterionic glycine, the ground electronic state being (4)A''.