Constructing highly conducting metal-metal bonded solids by electrocrystallization of [Pt(II)2(RCS2)4] (RCS2(-) = dithiocarboxylato, R = methyl or ethyl).

Partially oxidized one-dimensional (1D) Pt-Pt chain compounds [Pt2(MeCS2)4]4ClO4.5PhCN (1) and [Pt2(EtCS2)4]5(ClO4)2 (2) were synthesized by electrocrystallization of diplatinum(II,II) complexes from different solvents. 1 and 2 consist of 1D Pt-Pt chains of stacked Pt-Pt dimers with short interdimer S...S contacts. Depending on the number of ClO4- per dimer and their positions, 1 forms a regular stack of Pt-Pt dimers, whereas 2 forms pentamer of dimers in the 1D chain. 1 exhibits high electrical conductivity (4.2-8.0 S cm-1) at 300 K and metallic behavior above 125 K. 2 is a semiconductor. 1 exhibits almost temperature independent magnetic susceptibility (ca. 1.1 x 10-4 emu mol-1) which is attributed to Pauli paramagnetism, whereas the spin degree of freedom in 2 has been lost. Although the basic structures are closely related, they exhibited different solid-state properties that depend on the valence state of the platinum atoms and the periodicity within the 1D chain.