The formation constants for triethanolamine (L) and ethanolamine (L′) are reported for a variety of metal ions at ionic strength 0.1 molar and 25°. For Cu(II), logK1with L is found to be 4.07, while logK values for the equilibria Cu2++ L + OH−°CuLOH+and CuLOH++ L°CuL2OH+are found to be 12.42 and 1.99 respectively. For Pb(II) with L′, logK1is found to be 4.10, while for L logK1is 3.39, and logK2is 2.47. The equilibria PbL2++ 20H−→ PbL(OH)2and 2PbL + OH−→ Pb2L2OH are found to have corresponding values of 13.05 and 8.89 respectively. For Ni(II) with L logK1is found to be 2.76, and logK20.84, while logK1for Co(II) is found to be 2.25, with logK1and logK2for Zn(II) 2.05 and 1.23, respectively. The formation constants of ligands containing neutral oxygen donors (alcoholic or ethereal) are examined, and it is concluded that for some metal ions such as Pb(II), Ca(II), or La(III), the inductive effects of the ethylene bridges outweigh the adverse steric effects of increasing the number of chelate rings. For these metal ions, addition of neutral oxygen donors leads to an increase in complex stability, which effect also contributes to the stability of their complexes with crown ethers. For other metal ions, such as Cu(II), Fe(III), or Ni(II), the steric effects outweigh the inductive effects, and the stability of their complexes is not enhanced by neutral oxygen donor atoms.