Primary reactions in the photochemistry of hexahalide complexes of platinum group metals: A minireview

We review the results obtained for Pt^IVCl₆²⁻, Pt^IVBr₆²⁻, Ir^IVCl₆²⁻, Ir^IVBr₆²⁻, and Os^IVBr₆²⁻ complexes in aqueous and alcoholic solutions using ultrafast pump–probe spectroscopy, laser flash photolysis, ESR, and photoelectron spectroscopy. We discuss the correlations between the photophysics and the photochemistry of these complexes. The key reaction for Pt^IVCl₆²⁻ is the inner-sphere electron transfer, which results in an Adamson radical pair that lives for several picoseconds, and the subsequent photoaquation in aqueous solutions and photoreduction in alcohols. The chlorine atom formed as the primary product escapes the solvent cage in aqueous solutions or oxidizes a solvent alcohol molecule via secondary electron transfer, producing secondary intermediates that react on the microsecond time scale. The photoexcitation of Pt^IVBr₆²⁻ results in the formation of pentacoordinated Pt^IV intermediates, i.e. ³Pt^IVBr₅⁻ and ¹Pt^IVBr₅⁻, with characteristic lifetimes of approximately 1 and 10 ps, respectively. Subsequent reactions of these intermediates result in the complexation of a solvent molecule. Photoreduction is also possible in alcohols. Similar reactions occur with rather low quantum yields for Ir^IVCl₆²⁻, therefore, only the ground-state recovery could be monitored in ultrafast experiments, which occur on the 10-ps time scale. The photochemical behaviours of the Ir^IVBr₆²⁻ and Os^IVBr₆²⁻ complexes are similar to those of Ir^IVCl₆²⁻ and Pt^IVBr₆²⁻, respectively.