Many structures have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Metallacrowns typically contain fused chelate rings in their structure, which imparts them with substantial stability. Metallacrowns have been synthesized with substantial variety. Mixed ligand and mixed ring-metal, and mixed-oxidation state metallacrowns are known. Inverse metallacrowns have been reported that contain metal ions oriented towards the center of the ring. Metallacryptates, metallahelicates, and fused metallacrowns are known. Among the interesting features of metallacrowns are the similarities between certain structures and the corresponding crown ether. For example, in the 12-C-4, the cavity size is 2.79 Å and the bite distance is 0.6 Å.  In the 12-MC-4, the cavity size is 2.67 Å and the bite distance is 0.5 Å.