Main observation and conclusion
A new bipyridine fused rhodamine-like chelating ligand and the corresponding transition metal complexes of platinum(Ⅱ)and iridi-um(Ⅲ)have been designed,synthesized and structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography.Their photophysical properties and acid-or metal ion-promoted spirocarbon ring-opening properties have been investigated.The platinum(Ⅱ)and iridium(Ⅲ)complexes show a drastic color change in solution with Hg2+ions and emergency of an absorption band at around 450-600 nm,assignable to the absorption band of the ring-opened rhodamine-like ligand.The platinum(Ⅱ)complex was suggested to undergo dissociation with Hg2+ion,based on the corresponding absorption titration study.Emission titration studies of iridium(Ⅲ)complexes were found to suffer from the quenching process,probably due to the presence of a lower-lying non-emissive excited state from the ring-opened form of ligand.