This paper reports the synthesis, X-ray and NMR investigations of chiral and meso dinitriles of tartaric acid (tartarodinitriles) and their O,O'-diacetyl and O,O'-dibenzoyl derivatives. While in chiral tartaric acid its esters and NH amides the four-atom carbon chain is overwhelmingly trans, it is gauche in chiral tartarodinitriles. Conversely, meso-tartaric acid, its esters and amides display a tendency for the gauche conformation, but meso-tartarodinitriles usually have the trans conformation. The NMR studies of tartarodinitriles reveal the presence of a conformational equilibrium in solution with a preference for those conformers found in crystals. The gauche conformation of meso-tartarodinitriles seems to be stabilized by local dipolar interactions, intramolecular C-H...O hydrogen bonds and by a tendency for maximization of the gauche effect, the latter effect also operating in chiral tartarodinitriles. Stabilization of the trans conformers of tartarodinitriles in the crystals seems to originate from specific intermolecular interactions.