A nonanuclear nickel(II) cluster, [Ni-9(H4L)(2)(OMe)(6)-(OAc)(10)(H2O)(4)]center dot 14H(2)O (1 center dot 14H(2)O), was synthesized by the reaction of an amide ligand H5L (= 2-hydroxy-4,6-dimethyl-N1,N3-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-1,3-benzenedicarboxamide) with nickel acetate in the presence of triethylamine. The cluster molecule consists of two cubane units and a mononuclear central moiety, connected by acetate bridges. In the cubane cores, ferromagnetic interactions between nickel ions were operative, and the total spin ground state was S = 7 due to ferrimagnetic interactions between the two ferromagnetic cubane cores and the mononuclear nickel spacer.