We study different aspects of the coherent manipulation of two trapped ions with bichromatic light. Using a dispersive bichromatic interaction we propose a procedure to generate the four electronic Bell states. We also make proposals for implementing a reliable protocol for teleporting electronic states and for measuring the Wigner function associated with the collective motional state of both ions. We study a second kind of bichromatic dispersive interaction that effectively promotes resonant transitions inside a previously chosen vibronic subspace. Using this selective interaction, we propose a procedure for generating Fock states and entanglement in the collective motional states of the two ions. Finally, we discuss a resonant bichromatic interaction that may be used for generating effciently different kinds of Schrödinger’s cat states and squeezing in the collective motional state of both ions.