Two novel 6'-phenyl-2,2'-bipyridine ligands (L1, L2) and their CdL(1,2)I2 complexes (1, 2) were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, IR, MALDI-TOF spectroscopy, and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The results reveal that the central cadmium(II) atom in the complexes was coordinated by two iodide ions and two nitrogen atoms from L1, L2, forming a distorted coordination