A series of five platinum (II) complexes based on 2-phenylpyrimidine ligands have been designed. Pyridine and chloride were used as auxiliary ligands. These complexes exhibit a slightly distorted square-planar geometry. The nature and position of substituent on the phenyl ring was thoroughly studied. The presence of an electron-donating substituent on the phenyl ring in the para position of the platinum atom leads to a red shift of the lowest-energy absorption band, which corresponds to the HOMO -> LUMO transition and permits to obtain phosphorescence in deoxygenated CH2Cl2 solution. All compounds are emissive in the solid state with a significant redshift for complexes bearing electron-donating substituent on the phenyl ring of phenylpyrimidine ligand.