5-(4-(Het)arylphenyl)-2,2′-bipyridine-6-carboxylic acids were synthesized as ligands for the neutral lanthanide complexes by using the “1,2,4-triazine” approach and Suzuki or Stille cross-coupling reaction with intermediate 5-(4-bromophenyl)-2,2′-bipyridine-6-carbonitrile. The neutral europium complexes of these ligands were obtained with 3 : 1 stoichiometric amount. The photophysical properties of the synthesized complexes were studied, and the influence of the nature of the aryl substituent was estimated. In some cases the improvement of the photophysical characteristics has been demonstrated for the complexes in case of addition of extra phenyl ring in the structure of the ligand.