Reactions of equemolar amounts of lead (II) nitrate and 2,2'- bipyridine o r l , 10- phenanthroline in aqueous methanolicsolution yield crystals of Pb (bipy)(H O)(NO ) (1) or Pb (phen) (H O) (NO ) (2) respectively. Their structures were determined by X-ray crystallography. The method and structure determination is described