The nature of the complexes produced in the interaction between Zn(II) or Cd(II) and 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol(PAR), sorbed on a Sephadex QAE anion exchanger haven been studied. The visible and IR absortion spectra of the species fixed on the exchanger have been established; the stoichiometry of the complexes is 1:2 (metal:ligand). To propose a structure for the metal complexes, semi-empirical molecular orbital calculations have been performed for the dianionic form of PAR (L^2-) and for its complexes ZnL₂^2- and CdL₂^2- by means of the SPARTAN program. The role of MOs for the ligand in possible coordination to metal ions is discussed and distorted octahedral structureis proposed for both complexes. For comparison, Zn(HL)₂·H₂O and Cd(HL)₂·H₂O have been synthesized and chracterized by the normal instrumental techniques.