Syntheses, structures, and magnetic properties of novel trinuclear complexes of the same motif [M{Cu(pz2bg)2}M]4+ (M = CuII, NiII, CoII, MnII), catena-[Cu2{Cu(pz2bg)2}(Hpz)2(PhSO3)2](PhSO3)2.4H2O (2.4H2O), [Ni2{Cu(pz2bg)2}(MeOH)2(H2O)4](NO3)4 (3), [Co2{Cu(pz2bg)2}(NO3)2(EtOH)2](NO3)2 (4), and [Mn2{Cu(pz2bg)2}(NO3)4(MeCN)2] (5), which include the complex ligand [Cu(pz2bg)2] (1), are reported (Hpz = pyrazole, pz2bg- = di(pyrazolecarbimido)aminate; bispyrazolyl derivative of biguanidate). The reaction of Cu(ClO4)2.6H2O, sodium dicyanamide, Hpz, and PhSO3H.H2O (1:2:4:4) in MeOH yielded blue crystals of [Cu2(1)(Hpz)2(PhSO3)2](PhSO3)2.4H2O (2.4H2O). In 2, the tricopper(II) units, which consist of two Cu(II) ions bridged by 1, are linked by benzenesulfonate anions to form a ladder structure. Complex 1 was isolated by removing the terminal Cu(II) ions from 2 with use of Na(4)edta. Complexes 3-5 were obtained by the reaction of 1 with an excess of each M(II) ion. In 2-5, the adjoining metal ions are ferromagnetically coupled via the pz2bg- ligand with J values of +7.2(1), +7.5(1), +2.7(1), and +0.3(1) cm(-1), respectively, using a spin Hamiltonian H = -2J(S(M1)S(Cu) + S(Cu)S(M2)). The ferromagnetic interaction was attributed to the strict orthogonality of magnetic dsigma orbitals, which are controlled by the kappa3N:kappa2N bridging geometry of the pz2bg- ligands.