A kinetic and mechanistic study of dinuclear platinum (II) complexes with bis-(4'-terpyridyl)-a,w-alkyldiol ligands.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.A series of novel Bis 2,2':6',2″-terpyridinyl ligands, linked through a flexible alkyl chain situated at the 4' position, were synthesised and characterised by microanalysis, FTIR, NMR, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and MS-ToF. Single crystals of all the ligands were obtained, of which one has been published, one has been submitted for publication and one is in preparation for publication. These ligands were then coordinated to platinum(II) and characterised, including ¹⁹⁵Pt NMR spectroscopy. A detailed kinetic study involving the substituting the chloride co-ligand with the following nucleophiles thiourea, 1,3-dimethyl-thiourea and 1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-thiourea was conducted using stopped-flow techniques. An associative reaction mechanism was suggested for the pendant ligand substitution and the following trend in reactivity was observed: L2-Ptα > L3-Ptβ > L1-Ptχ. UV-Visible absorption spectra were recorded on sequentially diluted solutions of the ligands (in chloroform), and the platinum complexes (in water). These spectra obeyed the Beer-Lambert law. The values of the molar absorption coefficients at the wavelengths of maximum absorption for the ligands followed the trend L1 < L2 < L3, whilst for the complexes the trend was L1-Pt < L3-Pt < L2-Pt. It has been concluded that at low concentrations L2-Pt and L3-Pt undergo intramolecular folding. Variable temperature and variable concentration NMR spectroscopic studies were performed on all three complexes. At higher complex concentrations intermolecular self-association takes place for L2-Pt and L3-Pt but not for L1-Pt. The reactivity of the complexes is predominately determined by their structural conformations in solution. At low concentrations the L1-Pt complex remains in its linear conformational state, whilst the L2-Pt and L3-Pt complexes undergo intramolecular folding with the formation of an axial Pt—Pt bonded and π—π stacked dinuclear platinum terpyridine centre. The latter is believed to be more active in the substitution reaction than the original mononuclear centre. The reasons for the folding and self-association in the L2-Pt and L3-Pt systems are related to the steric crowding and stress in the spacer region of the folded or self-associated complexes