An Aggregation-Inhibiting Bimetallic Alkynylplatinum(II) Terpyridyl Complex: Synthesis and Photophysical Properties

Herein we report the synthesis and photochemistry of a luminescent bimetallic alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridyl complex {[Ar(C≡C)2][Pt(tpy)]2}(PF6)2 (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine; Ar = [(C6H3)2(C≡C–C≡C)]), in which six long alkoxyl chains were purposely introduced to prevent the molecules from coming close to each other and thus inhibit metal-metal interactions and π–π stacking. After the complex and all synthetic intermediates were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR, and mass spectra, the electronic absorption and luminescent behaviors were further studied by steady-state spectroscopy. Further concentration-dependent spectroscopy data showed that self-assembling aggregation effect commonly found in the alkynylplatinum(II) terpyridyl complexes can be effectively inhibited by the introduced multiple alkoxy groups of the complex.