Facial-Meridional Isomerization and Reductive Elimination in [(R2P-o-C6H4)2N]PtMe3 (R = Ph, iPr).

Treatment of PtMe3I in tetrahydrofuran with either in situ prepared [R-PNP]Li ([R-PNP]- = [(R2P-o-C6H4)2N]-; R = Ph, iPr) or H[R-PNP] in the presence of triethylamine at room temperature affords quantitatively fac-[R-PNP]PtMe3. Thermolysis of fac-[R-PNP]PtMe3 in benzene solutions generates mer-[R-PNP]PtMe3 and ultimately [R-PNP]PtMe and ethane. Complexes mer-[R-PNP]PtMe3 represent the first meridional trialkylplatinum(IV) derivatives to date.