Pt(II) nitrile complexes: New insights on old complexes from a combined experimental and theoretical study

Abstract The spectroscopic characterization of cis - and trans -[PtCl 2 (NCR) 2 ] (R = CH 3 , Ph, CH 2 Ph) was reported in solid state and solution phase. Moreover, the X-ray structures of cis -[PtCl 2 (NCCH 3 ) 2 ], cis - and trans -[PtCl 2 (NCPh) 2 ] were redetermined at low temperature. FT-IR and NMR showed a blue-shift and a slight shielding of the νCN and δ ( 13 C CN ) values, respectively, in a counterintuitive way with respect to the well known improved reactivity towards nucleophiles of nitriles ligands coordinated to platinum(II), when compared to their free forms. These spectroscopic behaviors were also confirmed by theoretical experiments at DFT level. Moreover, DFT approach show…