The synthesis, crystal structure, magnetic properties, and single-molecule conductance of two new trinuclear metal string complexes, [Ni(3)(dzp)(4)(NCS)(2)] (2) and [Co(3)(dzp)(4)(NCS)(2)] (3), containing the rigid Hdzp ligand (1, 1,9-diazaphenoxazine) are reported. X-ray structural analyses show that compounds 2 and 3 exhibit smaller torsion angles and longer metal-metal distances than those exhibited by the corresponding dpa(-) analogues (dpa(-) = dipyridylamido anion) due to the rigidity of Hdzp ligands. The longer metal-metal distance observed for 2 and 3 results in variations in their magnetic properties. The exchange interaction (J = -160 cm(-1)) between two high spin (HS) Ni(II) ions in 2 decreases slightly in comparison with those of trinickel dpa(-) analogues. The doublet-quartet gap of 3 is smaller than that of [Co(3)(dpa)(4)(NCS)(2)] (4), which causes compound 3 to show spin-crossover behavior even at low temperature.