Platinum(II) Complexes Containing Quaternized Nitrogen Ligands: Synthesis, Stability, and Evaluation as Catalysts for Methane and Benzene H/D Exchange

This paper describes an efficient synthesis of the cationic platinum complex [(N-CH3-bpym)PtCl2]+ (N-CH3-bpym = N-methylbipyrimidinium) and evaluation of its catalytic activity in H/D exchange reactions of CH4 (with D2SO4) and benzene (with CF3CO2D). With both substrates [(N-CH3-bpym)PtCl2]+ shows C−H activation reactivity comparable to that of its neutral analogue (bpym)PtCl2 (bpym = bipyrimidine). The origin of this similar reactivity is proposed to be the in situ formation of the same active catalyst in both cases.