Rare observation of ‘aggregation induced emission’ in cyclometalated platinum(<scp>ii</scp>) complexes and their biological activities

Three strong solid state emissive cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes [Pt(C⁁N) (CH⁁N) (Cl)] (1) (C⁁N/CH⁁N = 2-phenylpyridine, C⁁N = bidentate and CH⁁N = monodentate), [Pt(C⁁N) (P⁁P)]Cl [P⁁P = bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (2) and cis-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethene (3)] were reported. These were identified as ‘Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE)’ active complexes based on controlled experiments. Cytotoxicity and cell imaging have been studied for the complex 2.