A series of luminescent mononuclear [(C
N
N)Pt(C
NR)]X (HC
N
N = 6-phenyl-2,2'-bipyridine; R =
tBu (
1),
nBu (
2),
iPr (
3), cyclohexyl (Cy,
4), X = ClO
4; R = 2,6-Me
2C
6H
3 (Ar',
5), X = PF
6) and [(C
N
N)Pt(CO)]CF
3SO
3 (
6(CF
3SO
3)) and binuclear [{(C
N
N)Pt}
2(
-C
N(CH
2)
3N
C)](PF
6)
2 (
7(PF
6)
2) complexes were synthesized, and their spectroscopic andphotophysical properties have been investigated. The crystal lattices of
1(ClO
4) and
5(PF
6)reveal close [C
N
N]
-
intermolecular contacts (3.4-3.6 Å). Additional metal-metalinteractions are evident in
5(PF
6) with intermolecular Pt-Pt distances of 3.3831(9) Å. Atcomplex concentration greater than 5 × 10
-3 mol dm
-3, the UV-vis absorption spectrum of
2 displays a weak shoulder at 511 nm (
= 120 dm
3 mol
-1 cm
-1), which does not obey Beer'slaw. A metal-metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MMLCT) [d
*(Pt-Pt)
*(C
N
)] absorptionof a dimeric species via 2[Pt(C
N
N)(C
N
nBu)]
+ [(C
N
N)Pt(C
N
nBu)]
22+ is proposed.The room-temperature emission spectrum of
4 for complex concentrations
7 × 10
-3 moldm
-3 shows a low-energy band at 710 nm originating from a
3MMLCT excited state. Acorresponding well-defined low-energy absorption at 500 nm in the excitation spectrum of
4 (
em 710 nm) is assigned to the
1MMLCT transition. The 77 K emissions of complexes
1-
6in glassy solutions are sensitive to complex concentration. Upon increasing concentrationsfrom 5 × 10
-5 to 2 × 10
-3 mol dm
-3 for
1-
4, red emissions at 600-625 nm ascribed to
-
excimeric excited states develop at the expense of the vibronic
3MLCT emissions at
max~502 nm. Complexes
2 and
4 show additional low-energy emissions at 739 and 710 nm,respectively, attributable to
3MMLCT states. Concentrated 77 K glassy solutions of complexes
5-
7 exhibit
3MMLCT emissions (
max 711-744 nm). The broad structureless solid-stateluminescence of
2(ClO
4),
3(ClO
4),
5(PF
6),
6(CF
3SO
3), and
7(PF
6)
2 at 298 K (
max 701-748nm) and 77 K (
max 744-813 nm) are assigned to
3MMLCT excited states arising fromintermolecular stacking interactions in the solid state. The spectroscopic properties of therelated [(C
N
C)Pt(L)] (HC
N
CH = 2,6-diphenylpyridine; L = CO and C
NAr') solids arecompared, and no MMLCT emission is evident.