Two new 1,3,5-triazine-based ligands, namely 2-chloro-4,6-bis-N-[2-methylsulfanyl-N-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)aniline]-1,3,5-triazine (cspat) and 2,4,6-tris-N-[N-2-(methylsulfanyl)-N-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)ethanamine]-1,3,5-triazine (spet), have been purposely designed to favour anion–π and/or lone pair–π interactions in their coordination compounds. Three copper coordination compounds from these ligands, i.e. [Cu(cspat)Br₂] (1), [Cu(cspat)(NO₃)₂] (2) and [Cu(Hspet)(NO₃)₂](NO₃)·0.5H₂O (3), have been obtained and their single-crystal X-ray structures have been determined. As expected, the solid-state structures of the three Cu^II compounds are composed of supramolecular networks of anion–π and/or lone pair–π non-covalent bonds.