Potassium tetrachloroplatinate is prepared by reduction of the corresponding hexachloroplatinate salt with sulfur dioxide.[1] K2PtCl4 is one of the salts that is most easily obtained from platinum ores. The complex is appreciably soluble only in water. Treatment with alcohols, especially in the presence of base, causes reduction to platinum metal. Organic tetrachloroplatinate salts, such as [PPN]2PtCl4 are soluble in chlorocarbons.[2]
Enedithiolates displace all four chloride ligands to give bis(dithiolene) complexes.[3] Reduction gives colloidal platinum of potential interest for catalysis.[4]
Historically, an important reaction involves ammonia and [PtCl4]2−. This reaction affords a deep green precipitate with empirical formula PtCl2(NH3)2. This material, known as Magnus' green salt, is a semiconducting coordination polymer consisting of chains of alternating [PtCl4]2− and [Pt(NH3)4]2+ centres.[5]
^Scott D. Cummings; Richard Eisenberg (1995). "Acid-Base Behavior of the Ground and Excited States of Platinum(II) Complexes of Quinoxaline-2,3-dithiolate". Inorg. Chem.34 (13): 3396–3403. doi:10.1021/ic00117a005.