Seven new compounds, four 4,7-bis(p-substituted-styryl)-1,10-phenanthrolines and three rhenium tricarbonyl chloride (diamine) complexes, were synthesized and characterized. These compounds which lack alkyl chains, formed stable Langmuir films. These films were transferred from the air-water interface by horizontal lifting to a variety of solid surfaces such as Au/glass, Ge, and quartz with transfer ratios of 1.02+/-0.10. UV/vis and three FTIR methods (transmission IR, grazing angle reflectance IR, and attenuated total reflectance IR) were used to analyze the transferred films. [4,4’-Bis[p-(methacryloyloxy)styryl]-2,2’-bipyridine]rhenium tricarbonyl chloride and 4,7-bis(p-nitrostyryl)-1,10-phenanthroline showed the largest anisotropy in the Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) films. The orientation of the other compounds varied from moderately anisotropic to totally isotropic. Hence, the net orientation of these materials in LS films is greatly influenced by the terminating functional groups.