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Tuning Reactivity of Platinum(II) Complexes

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The electronic absorption spectra <strong>of</strong> CH3PhPtCl, CH3PhisoqPtCl, PtCl and pyPhenPtCl<br />

have been reported in literature. 20,21 These results reveal that the order <strong>of</strong> decreasing<br />

MLCT absorption energies follow the trend: CH3PhisoqPtCl > CH3PhPtCl > PtCl ><br />

pyPhenPtCl. This observation is consistent with the understanding that pyphen ligand<br />

is the strongest π-acceptor and 4’–(2’’’–CH3–phenyl)–6–(3’’–isoquinoyl)–2,2’–<br />

bipyridine the weakest. The results also represent the electronegativiy <strong>of</strong> the ligands as<br />

well as the extent <strong>of</strong> π-delocalisation. 36 These results are in agreement with the DFT-<br />

calculations which illustrate the π-acceptor properties <strong>of</strong> the tridentate ligands and<br />

quantify the HOMO-LUMO energy gap <strong>of</strong> the frontier orbitals.<br />

Given the typically associative character <strong>of</strong> the d 8 square-planar Pt(<strong>II</strong>) complexes, the<br />

transition state is stabilised by the transfer <strong>of</strong> the electron density to the tridentate N-<br />

donor ligands, making the metal centre more positively charged, thus enhancing the<br />

substitution reactions. This is in contrast to the increase <strong>of</strong> electron density around the<br />

Pt(<strong>II</strong>) centre which tends to stabilise the ground state while destabilising the 18-electron<br />

five-coordinate transition state with a net effect <strong>of</strong> slowing substitution reactions.<br />

Therefore, the difference in reactivity <strong>of</strong> investigated complexes can be accounted for in<br />

terms <strong>of</strong> the strength <strong>of</strong> the π-backbonding <strong>of</strong> the coordinating ligand. The higher<br />

reactivity <strong>of</strong> CH3PhPtCl compared to CH3PhisoqPtCl is due to the fact that the three<br />

coplanar pyridine rings <strong>of</strong> terpy ligand are better at delocalising the negative charge<br />

from the Pt(<strong>II</strong>) centre through π-backbonding. The “unusual” decrease in reactivity <strong>of</strong><br />

CH3PhisoqPtCl is due to the relative poor π-acceptor property <strong>of</strong> the isoquinoline<br />

ligand. This means that the electrophilicity <strong>of</strong> the metal centre is decreased, resulting in<br />

the retardation <strong>of</strong> the incoming nucleophiles. Similar results have been reported by our<br />

group 14 and other workers, 9, 22 but these have been due to the increase in the cis σ-<br />

effect and not the decrease in the delocalisation <strong>of</strong> the π-electron density being reported<br />

here. The results show that isoquinoline ligand is a net σ-donor.<br />

The difference in reactivity between PtCl and pyPhenPtCl is because <strong>of</strong> the fused-ring<br />

system in the latter that gives rise to a favourable overlap <strong>of</strong> the dπ orbitals <strong>of</strong> the metal<br />

22

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