Photoinduced activation of arene C–H bonds with (η5-cyclopentadienyl)-trimethylplatinum(IV): a possible role of CpPtR2H

(η⁵-Cyclopentadienyl)trimethylplatinum(IV) reacts with ArMe arenes rather than alkanes or benzene under heating to 150 °C in the dark or under irradiation with light at room temperature by a radical mechanism to produce (η⁵-cyclopentadienyl)dimethyl-(arylmethyl)platinum(IV) complexes, and the expected complex CpPtR₂(H) is unstable under the reaction conditions, as found by the reduction of CpPtMe₂I with complex metal hydrides.