Effect of the donor–acceptor properties of ligands on the spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of mixed-ligand complexes of Pt(II) and Ir(III) with cyclometalated 2-phenylbenzothiazole

The results of the spectroscopic NMR (1H, 13C, and 195Pt), infrared, optical, and voltammetric characteristics of the mixed-ligand complexes of Pt(II) and Ir(III) with metalated 2-phenylbenzothiazole and tert-butylisocyanide (tBuNC), acetonitrile (AN), ethylenediamine (En), O-ethyldithiocarbamate (Exn–), and diethyldithiocarbamate (Dtc–) ions are presented. It is demonstrated that the change in donor–acceptor interaction of ligands tBuNC, AN, En, Exn–, and Dtc– with metal leads to an increase in the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital of the complexes and is accompanied by a shift of the cathode potential of the metal-centered oxidation, a bathochromic shift of the spin-allowed and spin-forbidden metal-tocyclometalated ligand optical charge transfer transitions, and an increase the degree of mixing of the 1MLCT and triplet intraligand states, responsible for the phosphorescence of the complexes.