Clathrate compounds of tetracyano complexes of nickel and platinum with phenol

The double cyanides of nickel and platinum form structures capable of enclosing also phenol, for example, as guest molecule. Such clathrates are Ni(NH₃)₂Pt(CN)₄ 2 C₆H₅OH and Ni(en)₂Pt(CN)₄ · 0.14 C₆H₅OH. In the case of the tetracyano complexes, different thermal stabilities of their clathrate compounds could be achieved by alteration of the constituents of the cage structure and also of the guest molecules. According to the thermal behaviour, the clathrates may be divided into two groups: those which release the guest molecules in the first step of thermal decomposition (Ni(NH₃)₂Pt(CN)₄· 2 C₆H₅OH), and those which lose the guest component only after partial destruction of the host cage (Ni(en)₂Pt(CN)₄ · 0.14 C₆H₅OH). The temperature ranges of loss of the guest component may determine the interval for their use in sorptive experiments. The temperature range for release of phenol from Ni(NH₃)₂Pt(CN)₄ · · 2 C₆H₅OH is 55–244°, and from Ni(en)₂Pt(CN)₄ · 0.14 C₆H₅OH is 139–284°. The model host molecules NiPt(CN)₄ · 6 H₂O and Ni(en)₃Pt(CN)₄ · 3 H₂O were also studied by thermal analysis.