A luminescent bis(pyridyl)‐substituted benzimidazole platinum(II) complex exhibiting an intermolecular anagostic interaction

The photophysical properties of transition metal complexes of the 5,6‐dimethyl‐2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)‐1‐(pyridin‐2‐ylmethyl)‐1H‐benzimidazole ligand are of interest. Dichlorido5,6‐dimethyl‐2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)‐1‐(pyridin‐2‐ylmethyl)‐1H‐benzimidazole‐κ²N ²,N ³]platinum(II), PtCl₂(C₂₀H₁₈N₄)], is luminescent in the solid state at room temperature. The compound displays a distorted square‐planar coordination geometry. The Pt—N(imidazole) bond length is shorter than the Pt—N(pyridine) bond length. The extended structure reveals that symmetry‐related molecules display weak C—H…N, C—H…Cl, and C—H…Pt hydrogen‐bonding interactions that are clearly discernable in the Hirshfeld surface and fingerprint plots. The intermolecular C—H…Pt and C—H…N interactions have been explored using density functional theory. The result of an analysis of the distance dependence of C—H…Pt yields a value consistent with that observed in the solid‐state structure. The energy of interaction for the C—H…Pt interaction is found to be about ?11 kJ mol^?1.