Synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of a heteroleptic tris-cyclometalated iridium(III) complex

A convenient synthesis of the tris-cyclometalated complex [Ir(ppy)2(nppy)] (2, ppy = 2-phenylpyridyl, nppy = 2-(4-nitrophenyl)pyridyl) from [{Ir(μ-Cl)(ppy)2}2] (1), the ligand 2-(4-nitrophenyl)pyridine, and silver trifluoroacetate as halide abstractor in refluxing methoxyethanol is described. The crystal and molecular structure of 2 was determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study.