Kinetics and mechanism for reversible chloride transfer between mercury(II) and square-planar platinum(II) chloro ammine, aqua, and sulfoxide complexes. Stabilities, spectra, and reactivities of transient metal-metal bonded platinum-mercury adducts

The Hg(super 2+)- and HgCl(super +)- assisted aquations of a series of platinum(II) chloride complexes and the reverse chloride transfer from HgCl2 and HgCl(super +) to platinum are assessed. Transient metal-metal bonded Pt-Hg adducts characterized by their stability constants and electronic spectra are observed for Hg(super 2+) but not for HgCl(super +) and these adducts are probably not intermediates along the reaction coordinate.