In this paper, we investigated three ligand systems, symmetric and asymmetric pyridyl-containing tridentate ligands (L1NH2 = (bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-amino)-ethylamine, L2H = (bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-amino)-acetic acid, L3NH2 = [(6-amino-hexyl)-pyridyl-2-methyl-amino]-acetic acid) as bifunctional chelating agents for labeling biomolecules. These ligands reacted with the precursor fac-[188Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+ and yielded the radioactive complexes fac-[188Re(CO)3L] (L = three ligands), which were identified by RP-HPLC. The corresponding stable rhenium tricarbonyl complexes (1–3) were allowed for macroscopic identification of the radiochemical compounds. 188Re tricarbonyl complexes, with log Po/w values ranging from −1.36 to −0.32, were obtained with yields of ≥90% using ligand concentrations within the 10−6−10−4M range. Challenge studies with cysteine and histidine revealed the high stability properties of these radioactive complexes, and biodistribution studies in normal mice indicated a fast rate of blood clearance and high rate of total radioactivity excretion, primarily through the renal-urinary pathway. In summary, these asymmetric and symmetric pyridyl-containing tridentate ligands are potent bifunctional chelators for the future biomolecules labeling of fac-[188Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+.