Palladium complexes of N-phenyl-2-pyridylamine (4) and dipyridylamine substrates (7, 11) have been studied. Due to the coordination ability of the pyridine-nitrogen atoms, the pyridyl substrates, 4, 7, 11 were subjected to Pd (OAc) 2 complexations and a number of N-aryl-2- pyridylamine Pd complexes (13–17) were isolated and characterised, in particular by NMR and ESI-MS. A new method for the preparation of the acetato-bridged six-membered ring ...