Carbon-hydrogen bond activation of alkanes by Tp'Rh(CNR) (Tp' = Tp = trispyrazolylborate or Tp* = tris(3,5- dimethylpyrazolyl)borate) were followed by time-resolved infrared spectroscopy (TRIR) in the upsilon(CNR) and upsilon(B-H) spectral regions on Tp*Rh(CNCH2CMe3), and their reaction mechanisms were modeled by density functional theory (DFT) on TpRh(CNMe). The major intermediate species were: kappa(3)-eta(1)-alkane complex (1); kappa(2)-kappa(2)-alkane complex (2); and kappa(3)-alkyl hydride (3). Calculations predict that the barrier between 1 and 2 arises from a triplet-singlet crossing and intermediate 2 proceeds over the rate-determining C-H activation barrier to give the final product 3. The activation lifetimes measured for the Tp*Rh(CNR) and Tp*Rh(CO) fragments with n-heptane and four cycloalkanes (C5H10, C6H12, C7H14, and C8H16) increase with alkanes size and show a dramatic increase between C6H12 and C7H14. A similar step-like behavior was observed previously with CpRh(CO) and Cp*Rh(CO) fragments and is attributed to the wider difference in C-H bonds that appear at C7H14. However, Tp'Rh(CNR) and Tp'Rh(CO) fragments have much longer absolute lifetimes compared to those of CpRh(CO) and Cp*Rh(CO) fragments, because the reduced electron density in dechelated kappa(2)-eta(2)-alkane Tp' complexes stabilizes the d(8) Rh(I) in a square-planar geometry and weakens the metal's ability for oxidative addition of the C-H bond. Further, the Tp'Rh(CNR) fragment has significantly slower rates of C-H activation in comparison to the Tp'Rh(CO) fragment for the larger cycloalkanes, because the steric bulk of the neopentyl isocyanide ligand hinders the rechelation in kappa(2)-Tp'Rh(CNR)(cycloalkane) species and results in the C-H activation without the assistance of the rechelation.