A structural and spectroscopic investigation of octahedral platinum bis(dithiolene)phosphine complexes: platinum dithiolene internal redox chemistry induced by phosphine association.

The complexes [Pt(mdt)2] (4; mdt = methyldithiolene, [Me2C2S2](n-)), [Pt(adt)2] (5; adt = p-anisyldithiolene, [(MeO-p-C6H4)2C2S2](n-)), and [Pd(adt)2] (10) have been prepared in yields of ≥90% via transmetalation reactions with the corresponding [R2Sn(S2C2R'2)] complexes (R = (n)Bu, R' = Me; R = Me, R' = -C6H4-p-OMe, 3). Intraligand C-S and C-Cchelate bond lengths (~1.71 and ~1.40 Å, respectively) obtained by X-ray crystallography show these compounds to be comprised of radical monoanions mdt(•-) and adt(•-). The six-coordinate octahedral adducts [Pt(adt)2(dppe)] [6; dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane], trans-[Pt(adt)2(PMe3)2] (8), and trans-[Pt(mdt)2(PMe3)2] (9) have also been prepared, and crystal structures reveal dithiolene ligands that are fully reduced ene-1,2-dithiolates (C-S and C-C(chelate) = ~1.77 and 1.35 Å, respectively). Reduction of the dithiolene ligand thus occurs to accommodate the +IV oxidation state typical of octahedral six-coordinate platinum. The cyclic voltammogram of 5 shows two fully reversible reductions at -0.11 and -0.84 V in CH2Cl2 (vs Ag/AgCl), attributed to successive (adt(•-) + e(-) → adt(2-)) processes, and a reversible oxidation at +1.01 V. The cyclic voltammogram of 9 shows two reversible oxidations at +0.38 and +0.86 V, which are assigned as successive (adt(2-) → adt(•-) + e(-)) oxidations. Consistent with their formulation as having fully reduced dithiolene ligands, the UV-vis spectra for 6, 8, and 9 show no low-energy absorptions below 700 nm, and the S K-edge XAS spectra of 6 and 8 show dithiolene sulfur that is reduced relative to that in 5. The introduction of PMe3 to 10 did not produce the palladium analogue of 8 but rather [Pd(adt)(PMe3)2] (11). The reaction of [PdCl2(PPh3)2] with Li2(mdt) produced a mixture of [Pd(mdt)(PPh3)2] (12, 20%) and [(Ph3P)Pd(µ-1,2-mdt-S,S':S)2Pd(PPh3)] (13, 28%), with the latter having C2 symmetry with a Pd2S2 core structure folded along the S···S axis.