Trichloro(Dinitrogen)Platinate(II).

Zeise's salt, [PtCl (H C=CH )] is the oldest known organometallic complex, featuring ethylene strongly bound to a platinum salt. Many derivatives are known, but none involving dinitrogen, and indeed dinitrogen complexes are unknown for both platinum and palladium. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of K [PtCl ] solutions generate strong ions corresponding to [PtCl (N )] , the identity of which was confirmed through ion-mobility spectrometry and MS/MS experiments that proved it to be distinct from its isobaric counterparts [PtCl (C H )] and [PtCl (CO)] . Computational analysis established a gas-phase platinum-dinitrogen bond strength of 116 kJ mol , substantially weaker than the ethylene and carbon monoxide analogues but stronger than for polar solvents such as water, methanol and dimethylformamide, and strong enough that the calculated N-N bond length of 1.119 Å represents weakening to a degree typical of isolated dinitrogen complexes.