“…6,6'-Dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine gives an orange color, but this is undoubtedly due to chelation through the carboxyl group and nitrogen, as occurs in picolinic Since reagents normally attack phenanthroline in the benzenoid ring, 5 (or 6)derivatives are the easiest to obtain and a comparable series of 2-and 2,9- derivatives (XXVIII) has not yet been tested. However, the tris-2-methylphenanthroline iron(II) salts are of an orange color (147, 227) and recently have been shown to be of low stability. Though 2-methylphenanthroline is a stronger base (pKa = 5.42) than phenanthroline itself (pKa = 4.92), it forms much weaker complexes, pKi = 10.8, as compared with pXj-= 21.4 for Fe(phen)3++.…”