New mono-chelate complexes with ferrocenyl (Fc), octamethylferrocenyl (Me8Fc) and diaminophenyl (Dap) donor groups, connected through a conjugated bridge, to ZnCl2, Zn(OAc)2 or ReCl(CO)3 acceptor groups, are described. A thorough characterisation of the complexes is provided, including single crystal structures for one pro-ligand and three complexes. Visible d(FeII)→π* metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) bands accompany π→π* intraligand charge-transfer absorptions in the UV region. TD-DFT calculations confirm the nature of these absorptions and indicate transitions at higher energies also contain some d(FeII)→π* character. Fc and Me8Fc containing chromophores display a fully reversible oxidation process when probed electrochemically. Molecular quadratic nonlinear optical (NLO) responses are determined using hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) and Stark spectroscopy. Larger β values are determined for complexes with Dap donors and ReICl(CO)3 acceptors. A family of novel fac-ReI(Lax)(CO)3(N-N) complexes, where N-N is 4,4′-dicyano-2,2′-bipyridyl (dcnbpy) or 4,4′-bis-(p-cyanophenyl)-2,2′-bipyridine (bbnbpy), with various axial ligands (Lax) are reported. The ReI complexes are useful precursors for metalation with electron-rich RuII ammine donor groups, to prepare novel tri-metallic V-shaped molecules. Single crystal X-ray structures are reported for five ReI complexes, confirming the fac geometry of the carbonyl ligands; the ReI complexes also display stretching frequencies typical of fac-ReI(Lax)(CO)3(N-N) complexes. The UV-visible spectra contain a low intensity band due to a d(ReI)→π*(bpy) transition, along with a more intense π→π* band. 1H NMR studies reveal the formation of trimetallic complexes, upon treatment of ReI complexes with a molar excess of [RuII(NH3)5(H2O)][PF6]2.The synthesis of octupolar heptametallic complexes containing RuII ammine donor groups has been investigated. The ligand 4,4′-bis-[(E)-2-(4-cyanophenyl)ethenyl]-2,2′-bipyridine (bbnpe) was used to prepare tris-chelate complexes of various transition metals, in order to understand its complexation behaviour. The ZnII tris-chelate BPh4– salt was treated with a 10 molar excess of a RuII ammine aquo complex, to produce the heptametallic complex as a mixed anion salt. HRS and Stark spectroscopy have been used to determine the quadratic NLO response for the heptametallic mixed anion complex salts, the latter gives large β0 values, approximately 10–27 esu. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been carried out on twelve cationic, 2D NLO chromophores with pyrazinylbis(pyridinium) electron acceptors with either 4-(methoxy/dimethylamino)-phenyl or pyridyl coordinated {RuII(NH3)5}2+/trans-{RuII(NH3)4(py)}2+ electron donor groups and the results compared with data previously obtained experimentally. The B3LYP/6-311G(d) level of theory was used to model the absorption spectra and to calculate static hyperpolarisability (β0) values, whilst the B3LYP/LANL2DZ/6-311G(d) level was used for the complexes. The extent of prediction of trends in ICT bands and β0 is partial, with the main discrepancies relating to the progression from one to two electron donor groups. The quantitative accuracy of predictions diminishes as the systems depart from a relatively simple one-dimensional (1D) dipolar motif.