title: A curious interplay in the films of N-heterocyclic carbene Pt(II) complexes upon deposition of alkali metals.
abstract: The recently synthesized series of Pt(II) complexes containing cyclometallating (phenylpyridine or benzoquinoline) and N-heterocyclic carbene ligands possess intriguing structures, topologies, and light emitting properties. Here, we report curious physicochemical interactions between in situ PVD-grown films of a typical representative of the aforementioned Pt(II) complex compounds and Li, Na, K and Cs atoms. Based on a combination of detailed core-level photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations at the density functional theory level, we found that the deposition of alkali atoms onto the molecular film leads to unusual redistribution of electron density: essential modification of nitrogen sites, reduction of the coordination Pt(II) centre to Pt(0) and decrease of electron density on the bromine atoms. A possible explanation for this is formation of a supramolecular system "Pt complex-alkali metal ion"; the latter is supported by restoration of the system to the initial state upon subsequent oxygen treatment. The discovered properties highlight a considerable potential of the Pt(II) complexes for a variety of biomedical, sensing, chemical, and electronic applications.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Makarova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Elena V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Grachova
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Centre for Plastic Electronics, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London, UK.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niedzialek
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Anastasia I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Solomatina
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sonntag
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden, 01171 Dresden, Germany.|II Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, 50937 Köln, Germany.|Department of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Alexander V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Fedorov
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Oleg Yu
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Vilkov
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Moscow State University, 199991 Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Vera S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Neudachina
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laubschat
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Sergey P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Tunik
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany.|Department of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, 198504 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Denis V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Vyalikh