Metal scrambling in the trinuclear Pt-Se-M (M=Pt, Pd, Au) system using an electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) directed synthetic methodology; isolation and crystallographic characterization of two Pt-Se-Pt hexafluorophosphine complexes (see abstract) with the cycloocta-1,5-diene ligand (cod)

Abstract

Pt2(μ-Se)2(PPh3)4 reacts with PtCl2(cod) to give {Pt2(μ3-Se)2(PPh3) 4[Pt(cod)]}2+ and an unexpected cod-rich product that arises from metal scrambling, viz. {Pt(μ3-Se)2(PPh3)2[Pt(cod)] 2}2+. The formation of these species was detected and followed by electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) and subsequently verified by batch synthesis and crystallographic characterization. Other metal-scrambled aggregate products were successfully detected.