A 16-membered macrocycle containing histidine, β-alanine, and an anomeric sugar β-amino acid was synthesised using a stepwise procedure starting from an exo-glycal derivative. This new macrocyclic structure contains an unusual carbonic carbamic anhydride moiety that was spontaneously formed upon saponification of the C-terminus ester group by attack of the resulting carboxylate group on the N-terminal benzyloxycarbonyl protecting group. This macrocyclic ligand formed a 1:1 complex with copper(II) ions in aqueous solution at basic pH. A structural study of this complex in solution was undertaken by UV/Vis, and paramagnetic 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. These spectroscopic data strongly suggest a {3 × Namide, NIm} equatorial donor set around the copper(II) ion, the fourth amide nitrogen being inaccessible for coordination, probably due to the rigid structure imposed by the sugar unit and the anhydride moiety.