A general synthetic procedure for the preparation of multisubstituted phenanthrolines is presented. Bromination of 1, 10-phenanthroline at the 3 and 8 positions, followed by Suzuki coupling reaction and subsequent methylation afford the di-, tri and tetra-substituted phenanthrolines in good yields. These phenanthroline derivatives are useful building blocks in the construction of highly sophisticated molecular architectures. 1, 10-Phenanthrolines1 ...