Synthesis, Structures, Thermal stability and optical spectroscopy of Pt(II) di‑yne and poly‑yne incorporating 2,2′-Bipyridine-4,4′-diyl spacer

In platinum(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes the optical properties are influenced by the pattern of conjugation in the functionalised acetylide linker groups. We report the synthesis and characterisation of new Pt(II) di‑yne trans-[(Ph)(Et₃P)₂Pt–CC–Ar–CC–Pt(PEt₃)₂(Ph)] (Pt-M) and Pt(II) poly‑yne trans-[Pt(ⁿBu₃P)₂Pt–CC–Ar–CC–]_n (Pt-P) (Ar = 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-diyl) materials using analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The solid-state structure of the protected ligand precursor 4,4′-bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)-2,2′-bipyridine (LP₁) and the dinuclear Pt(II) di‑yne (Pt-M) have been determined by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) while the number average molecular weight (M_n), weight average molecular weight (M_w) and polydispersity index (PDI) of the Pt(II) poly‑yne (Pt-P) have been determined by the gel permeation chromatography/light-scattering (GPC/LS) methods (M_n/M_w/PDI = 55,210/88,560/1.6). The thermal stability of the protected and di-terminal alkynyl ligands, Pt(II) di‑yne (Pt-M) and Pt(II) poly‑yne (Pt-P) have been evaluated and are discussed. To delineate the impact of incorporating the heavy Pt(II) ion along the polymer backbone, optical absorption studies have been performed and are discussed in detail. The results of optical absorption studies, especially (Pt-M) have been compared to their 5,5′- and 6,6′-bis(ethynyl) substituted analogues to better understand the effect of ligand topology on the effective conjugation.