Glutardiamidoxime, a structural motif on sorbents used in uranium extraction from seawater, was discovered to cyclize in situ at room temperature to 2,6-diimino-piperidin-1-ol in the presence of uranyl nitrate. The new diimino motif was also generated when exposed to competing transition metals Cu(ii) and Ni(ii). Multinuclear μ-O bridged U(vi), Cu(ii), and Ni(ii) complexes featuring bound diimino ligands were isolated.