1,10-Phenanthroline is a classical ligand in coordination chemistry which is renowned among bidentate ligands for the generality of its stable metal complexes widely studied across many fields of chemistry, physics, biology and medicine. In this review we provide a detailed summary of experimental procedures which were developed to perform transition-metal-catalyzed reactions with halo-1,10-phenanthrolines. These data are discussed using selected examples showing how these reactions allow to expand beyond the range of available phenanthroline derivatives. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Synthesis of halophenanthrolines 3. Transition-metal-catalyzed functionalization of 1,10-phenanthrolines 3.1. CC coupling 3.2. C-Het coupling 3.3. Carboalkoxylation 3.4. Cyanation 4. Functionalization of metal complexes with 1,10-phenanthroline ligands 5. Conclusion Acknowledgement References