A new family of luminescent compounds: platinum(II) imidoylamidinates exhibiting pH-dependent room temperature luminescence

The imidoylamidinate platinum(II) compounds Pt{NH=C(R)NC(Ph)NPh}2] (R = CH2Ph 2, p-ClC6H43, Ph 4) were prepared by the reaction of the appropriate trans-PtCl2(RCN)2] with 4 equiv of the amidine PhC(NH)NHPh giving 2-4 and 2 equivs of the salt PhC(=NH)NHPh.HCl. We also synthesized, by the double alkylation of 4 with MeOSO2CF3, complex Pt{NH=C(Ph)N(Me)C(Ph)=NPh}2]CF3SO3]2 (5) which models the bis-protonated form of 4. The complexes were characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, and IR spectroscopies, FAB-MS and by C, H, N elemental analysis. The X-ray crystallography of 4.2CH2Cl2 enables the confirmation of the square planar coordination geometry of the metal center with almost planar imidoylamidine ligands, while in 5.2CHCl3 the planarity of the metallacycles is lost and and the central N atom is sp3-hybridized. The imidoylamidinate complexes represent a new family of Pt(II)-based luminescent complexes and they are emissive at room temperature both in solution and in the solid state, with an emission quantum yield ranging from 3.7 x 10(-4) to 6.2 x 10(-2) in methanol solution; the emission intensity is pH-dependent, being quenched at low pH. UV-visible and luminescence spectroscopies indicate that the lowest excited state of these compounds is 3MLCT or 3IL with significant MLCT character, with emission lifetimes of a few micros. A blue shift of both the absorption and emission with increasing solvent polarity and with decreasing pi-electron withdrawing properties of the ligand substituent was observed.