Metal–organic framework composites with luminescent pincer platinum(II) complexes: 3MMLCT emission and photoinduced dehydrogenation catalysis

Pincer platinum(II) complexes are well documented to exhibit weak intermolecular interactions in the solid state and 77 K glassy solutions, leading to emissive triplet metal–metal-to-ligand charge transfer (3MMLCT) excited states that often vanish in dilute solutions. In this work, metal–organic framework (MOF) materials are introduced to provide a “solid solution” environment for easy access to 3MMLCT excited states of pincer platinum(II) complexes. Phosphorescent composites PtII@MOFs (1–4) with matrix-dependent monomers and oligomer emission properties were obtained. These PtII@MOFs are efficient catalysts for photoinduced dehydrogenation reactions.