Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out for the system consisting of a 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane (cyclen)-lithium complex in 201 water molecules. The volume of the periodic cube was calculated using the experimental density of pure water at 298 K and 1 atm of 1 g.cm(-3), plus additional space occupied by the complex. The geometry of the complex is the alternated form, where the ion is located at the center of the cyclen. The complex-water interaction was represented by the cyclen-water and lithium-water pair potentials, both of which were developed on the basis of ab initio calculations. The results show two layers of solvation shells consisting of 2 and 6.9 water molecules. Two water molecules in the first solvation shell (O-1 and O-2) bind directly to the ion in which the ion-oxygen distance is 2.38 Angstrom, the dipole vector points to the ion, and rotation takes place around the ion-oxygen axis. In the next layer, 4 water molecules coordinate simultaneously to the first 2 water molecules in the first shell and the NH functional groups of cyclen. The remaining 2.9 water molecules in the second layer are also coordinated to be in the first half-hydration shell of O-1 and O-2.