A novel series of enantiomerically pure ligands, containing both pyridyl and 2,2'-bipyridyl moieties, derived from 2,6-dibromopyridine is reported, together with the synthesis of a number of manganese(II) complexes of the ligand library, four of which have been structurally characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The efficacy of these complexes in the epoxidation of a range of alkene substrates is investigated principally using per acetic acid as the oxidant. (C) 2008 Michael Watkinson. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.