New Schiff base ligands with two metal binding sites have been prepared. Copper and zinc complexes of the ligands, which serve as models for rigid, conjugated metallopolymers, were synthesized and characterized. The copper complexes display only weak intramolecular antiferromagnetic interactions, suggesting that the polymer structure is not useful for developing magnetic materials. Preliminary investigations of the novel polymers, including the preparation of a conjugated zinc-containing polymer, are reported.