Searching for a connection between the two-electron redox behavior of Group-14 elements and their possible use as platforms for the photoreductive elimination of chlorine, we have studied the photochemistry of [(o-(Ph2 P)C6 H4 )2 GeIV Cl2 ]PtII Cl2 and [(o-(Ph2 P)C6 H4 )2 ClGeIII ]PtIII Cl3 , two newly isolated isomeric complexes. These studies show that, in the presence of a chlorine trap, both isomers convert cleanly into the platinum germyl complex [(o-(Ph2 P)C6 H4 )2 ClGeIII ]PtI Cl with quantum yields of 1.7 % and 3.2 % for the GeIV -PtII and GeIII -PtIII isomers, respectively. Conversion of the GeIV -PtII isomer into the platinum germyl complex is a rare example of a light-induced transition-metal/main-group-element bond-forming process. Finally, transient-absorption-spectroscopy studies carried out on the GeIII -PtIII isomer point to a ligand arene-Cl. charge-transfer complex as an intermediate.
Keywords: charge-transfer complexes; chlorine radicals; germanium; photochemistry; platinum.
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