The reactions of scandium(III) chloride and thiocyanate with 2,2′-bipyridyl (bipy) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) have been investigated. Conductivity and i.r. studies suggest that scandium(III) is hexaco-ordinated in all the complexes, and the products can be formulated as [ScL3](CNS)3 and [ScL2X2]X (L = bipy, phen; X = CNS–, Cl–) For the latter species, the chlorides possess cis(C2) molecular symmetry, while the thiocyantes have been obtained with both cis and trans(D2h) symmetries.