Four novel axial complexes of rhodium(Ⅱ)carboxylate pyridin-2-yl(pyridin-4-yl)ketone were synthesized with rhodium(Ⅱ)carboxylate as the main body,and the single crystals were successfully grown.Their structures were characterized by 1H NMR,13C NMR,MS,IR and X-ray single crystal diffractions.The effects of substituents and axial ligands on the molecular structure were discussed,and their catalytic properties for the synthesis of meropenem like compounds were preliminarily tested.The results showed that compared with the parent molecule rhodium carboxylate(Ⅱ),the selected axial complex of rhodium carboxylate(Ⅱ)had poor solubility in the reaction system,and the ligand was not easy to dissociate,which led to the low yield of catalytic synthesis of meropenem compounds.