A route to sodium salts of tetranuclear Schiff-base macrocyclic ligands (H2Na2L1and H2Na2L2) derived from the condensation of 2,6-diformyl-4-(methyl or tert-butyl) phenol and 1,5-diaminopentan-3-ol has been developed, in order to compare two synthetic pathways namely the template synthesis and the "direct" synthesis of already known tetranuclear macrocyclic complexes. Subsequently, the complexation of H2Na2L1 and H2Na2L2 with nickel(II), copper(II), cobalt(II) and manganese(II) has been performed. The X-ray structures of tetranuclear nickel(II), copper(II) and manganese(II/III) complexes synthesised via the non-template route were determined and discussed. Furthermore, it is shown that the synthesis of tetranuclear complexes of metals inert towards template reactions like palladium is possible by complexing the pre-formed macrocycles H2Na2L1 and H2Na2L2.