Luminescent Diimine-Pt(IV) Complexes with Axial Phenyl Selenide Ligands

Luminescent diimine-Pt(IV) complexes [Pt(N^N)(Me)2(PhSe)2], (N^N = 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy, 1b), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen, 2b), and 4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine (Me2bpy, 3b), PhSe− = phenyl selenide were prepared and identified using multinuclear (1H, 13C{1H} and 77Se{1H}) NMR spectroscopy. The PhSe− ligands were introduced through oxidative addition of diphenyl diselenide to the non-luminescent Pt(II) precursors [Pt(N^N)(Me)2], N^N = (bpy, 1a), (phen, 2a), (Me2bpy, 3a), to give the luminescent Pt(IV) complexes 1b–3b. The UV-vis absorption spectra of 1b–3b are characterised by intense bands in the range 240–330 nm. We assigned them to transitions of essentially π−π* character with small metal and PhSe− ligand contributions with the help of TD-DFT (time-dependent density functional theory) calculations. The weak long-wavelength bands in the range 350–475 nm are of mixed ligand-to-metal charge transfer (L’MCT) (n(Se)→d(Pt)/intra-ligand charge transfer (IL’CT) (n(Se)→π*(Ph) or π(Ph)→π*(Ph))/ligand-to-ligand’ charge transfer (LL’CT) (L = N^N, L’ = PhSe−, M = Pt and n = lone pair) character. The Pt(IV) complexes showed broad emission bands in the solid state at 298 and 77 K, peaking at 560–595 nm with a blue shift upon cooling. Structured emission bands were obtained in the range 450–600 nm, with the maxima depending on the N^N ligands and the solvent polarity (CH2Cl2 vs. dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and aqueous tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane hydrochloride (tris-HCl) buffer). The emissions originate from essentially ligand-centred triplet states (3LC) with mixed IL’CT/L’MCT contributions as concluded from the DFT calculation. Such dominating PhSe contributions to the emissive states are unprecedented in the world of luminescent diimine-Pt(IV) complexes.