2 (dppm) have been studied by 1 H and 31 P{ 1 H} NMR spectroscopy in CD 3 CN. The chelating phosphines dppe and dppm catalyze the exchange of coordinated CH 3 CN for solvent CD 3 CN exchange prior to any other observable substitution chemistry. The monodentate phosphines initially form kinetically labile biaxially ligated complexes, [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (CH 3 CN) 4 (PR 3 ) 2 ][BF 4 ] 2 prior to substitution of the equatorial CH 3 CN by PR 3 . Over time, the biaxial complex rearranges to form the monoaxial, monoequatorial complex, involving displacement of a single equatorial CH 3 CN ligand. For PCy 3 the complex [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (CH 3 CN) 3 (PCy 3 ) 2 ][BF 4 ] 2 has been characterized by 1 H and 31 P{ 1 H} NMR spectroscopy. With time, a further reaction occurs leading to the cleavage of the Rh-Rh bond and the monomeric complex [Rh(CH 3 CN) 2 (PCy 3 ) 2 ][BF 4 ] has been identified. Crystal data at ϩ25 ЊC: space group P2 1 nm, a = 9.879(1) Å, b = 13.275(1) Å, c = 16.705(1) Å and Z = 4. A similar reaction sequence is observed with PMe 3 but more isomers of formula [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (CH 3 CN) 3 (PMe 3 ) 2 ][BF 4 ] 2 are observed by 31 P{ 1 H} NMR spectroscopy. Reactions involving dppe lead to axial and equatorial Rh-P bonded complexes. Based on 31 P{ 1 H} NMR data, the bisequatorial complex formulated as [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (CH 3 CN) 2 (dppe)][BF 4 ] 2 is formed. The formation of the latter, which has been followed from 35 to 80 ЊC, is evidently reversible since all attempts to crystallize the complex yielded only the acetonitrile salt [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (CH 3 CN) 4 ][BF 4 ] 2 and free dppe. With dppm, only axial ligation is observed while for dmpm and dmpe the substitutional behavior is more complex and has not been evaluated in detail. The activation parameters for the conversion of the biaxial [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (S) 4 (L) 2 ][BF 4 ] 2 to the monoaxial, monoequatorial [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (S) 3 (L) 2 ][BF 4 ] 2 complex (S = CH 3 CN and L = phosphine) have been determined. For L = PMe 3 , ∆H ‡ = 16(1) kcal mol Ϫ1 and ∆S ‡ = Ϫ9(3) cal K Ϫ1 mol Ϫ1 and for L = PCy 3 , ∆H ‡ = 21(1) kcal mol Ϫ1 and ∆S ‡ = ϩ2(3) cal K Ϫ1 mol Ϫ1 . For dppe, the 1 : 1 adduct shows only one type of 31 P signal for the initial axial complex indicative of rapid exchange of free and bound PPh 2 groups. The rearrangement to the equatorialaxial isomer [Rh 2 (OAc) 2 (S) 3 (dppe)][BF 4 ] 2 occurs with ∆H ‡ = 26(1) kcal mol Ϫ1 and ∆S ‡ = ϩ12(1) cal K Ϫ1 mol Ϫ1 . Collectively these data show that substitution at the Rh 2 4ϩ -center proceeds via an initial reversible associative process followed by an interchange of labile axial for inert equatorial sites. These results are compared with earlier studies of the substitution of M 2 4ϩ -containing complexes, where M = Mo, Ru and Rh.