Three unsymmetrical ditopic hexadentate ligands coded for the recognition of trivalent lanthanide ions have been synthesized, L-AB, L-AC, and L-BC, where A represents a benzimidazole-pyridine-benzimidazole coordination unit, B a benzimidazole-pyridine-carboxamide one, and C a benzimidazole-pyridine-carboxylic acid moiety. Under stoichiometric 2:3 (Ln:L) conditions, these ligands self-assemble with lanthanide ions to yield triple-stranded bimetallic helicates having a sizable stability in acetonitrile: log beta(23) values for Eu are equal to 23.9 +/- 0.5 (L-AB), 23.3 +/- 0.7 (deprotonated L-AC), and 29.8 +/- 0.5 (deprotonated L-BC). The crystal structure of the EuEu helicate with L-AB shows 9-coordinate metal ions and an HHH (H stands for head) configuration of the helically wrapped ligand strands. In the presence of equimolar quantities of Ln and Ln' ions, LAB displays a remarkable predisposition to form HHH-heterobimetallic edifices, as proved both in the solid state by the crystal structures of the LaEu, LaTb, PrEr, and PrLu helicates and in solution by NMR spectroscopy, In all cases, the benzimidazole-pyridine-carboxamide units of the three ligands are bound to the smaller lanthanide ion, a fact further ascertained by high-resolution luminescence data on LaEu and by H-1 NMR. Analysis of the lanthanide-induced H-1 NMR shifts and of the spin-lattice relaxation times of the [LnLu(L-AB)(3)](6+) series (Ln = Ce, Pr, No, Sm, Eu) demonstrates the isostructural nature of the complexes in solution and that the crystal structure of LaTb is a good model for the solution structure. The selectivity of LAB for heteropairs of Ln(III) ions increases with increasing difference in ionic radius, resulting in 70% of the heterobimetallic species for Deltar(i) = 0.1 Angstrom and up to 90% for LaLu (Deltar(i) = 0.18 Angstrom), and corresponding to Delta(DeltaG) in the range 3-10 kJ.mol(-1). The origins of this stabilization are discussed in terms of the donor properties of the coordinating units and of the preferential formation of HHH isomers.