The σ,π-cyclooctenyl iridium (III) pincer compounds [Ir(κ 3-pydc-X)(1-κ-4,5-η-C 8 H 13)] (X = H (1), Cl, Br) have been prepared from [Ir(µ-OMe)(cod)] 2 and the corresponding 4substituted pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acids (H 2 pydc-X) or, alternatively, from their lithium salts (X = H) and [Ir(cod)(CH 3 CN) 2 ]PF 6. Deuterium labeling studies in combination with theoretical calculations have shown that formation of 1 involves a metal-mediated proton transfer in the reactive intermediate [Ir(κ 2-Hpydc)(cod)], through the solvent stabilized hydrido complex [IrH(κ 3-pydc)(cod)(CH 3 OH)], followed by olefin insertion. The formation of this hydrido intermediate results from the solvent-assisted proton transfer through a hydrogen-bonding network forming an eight-membered metallacycle. In contrast, reaction of [Ir(µ-OMe)(cod)] 2 with iminodiacetic acid derivatives, RN(CH 2 COOH) 2 , gave the stable iridium(I) mononuclear [Ir{κ 2-MeN(CH 2 COOH)(CH 2 COO)}(cod)] (R = Me) complex having a free carboxymethyl group, and the tetranuclear complex [Ir 4 {κ 4-PhN(CH 2 COO) 2 } 2 (cod) 4 ] (R = Ph) with doubly deprotonated ligands. The molecular structure of the related cyclooctene complex [Ir 4 {κ 4-PhN(CH 2 COO) 2 } 2 (coe) 8 ] has been determined by X-ray analysis. Reaction of 1 with monodentate N-and P-donor ligands gave the compounds [Ir(κ 3pydc)(1-κ-4,5-η-C 8 H 13)(L)] (L = py, BnNH 2 , PPh 3 and PMe 3). Reaction of 1 with the shortbite bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm) afforded the mononuclear 1-dppm, with an uncoordinated P-donor atom, or the dinuclear 1 2-dppm complex as a function of the molar ratio used. Similarly, the dinuclear complexes 1 2-dppe and 1 2-dppp have been prepared using 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (dppp) as bridging ligands. The diphosphine-bridged dinuclear assemblies have been obtained as two diastereoisomers in a 1:1 ratio due to the chirality of the mononuclear building block. The single crystal X-ray structures of 1-py and 1-dppm are reported.