Solvent-controlled switch of selectivity between sp2 and sp3 C-H bond activation by platinum(ii)Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthetic details and characterization of new compounds. CCDC 791812 (3a) and 791813 (3b). For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c0cc04581k

By merely changing the solvent, two different cyclometalated platinum complexes resulted from either sp 2 or sp 3 C-H bond activation can be prepared selectively. For example, the reaction of L1 with K 2 PtCl 4 in MeCN gave exclusively kinetic product 1a , while the reaction in AcOH was thermodynamically controlled and produced predominantly 1b . Selectivity in platinum mediated intramolecular sp 2 versus sp 3 C-H bond activation can be switched by merely changing the solvent.