Carbon–phosphorous bond cleavage on a platinum centre. Crystal structure of sym-cis-[Pt(μ-PPh2)(PPh2CH2CH2S–P,S)]2

The complex [Pt(dppet–P,S)2] (Hdppet=PPh2CH2CH2SH) that had been synthesized previously from K2PtCl4 and Hdppet in the presence of base with moderate yields (ca. 50%), has been prepared in high yield (ca. 95%) in the absence of base. [Pt(dppet–P,S)2] is stable in the air, in the presence of acid (2 M HCl) and in refluxing toluene, but in the sun light it turns into binuclear sym-cis-[Pt(μ-PPh2)(dppet–P,S)]2 (1). The crystal structure of 1 revealed a non-crystallographically planar Pt2P4S2 core with open μ-P–Pt–P(dppet) angles (102, 104°) and similar μ-P–Pt distances of 2.311(4), 2.318(5), 2.302(5), 2.324(5) Å, little influenced by the trans ligand.