Dedicated to Professor Andre Merbach on the occasion of his 65th birthday A publication by Alexander P. Smirnoff in Helvetica Chimica Acta in 1920 [6] describes the first synthesis of a coordination species, i.e., of tris(propane-1,2-diamine-kN 1 ,kN 2 )platinum(4 ) ([Pt IV (pn) 3 ] 4 ), where it was shown that the configuration of a chiral center in the ligand can influence the configuration at the metal. The present investigation of [Pt IV (pn) 3 ] 4 was carried out by NMR spectroscopy, where all nuclei in the metal complex were used as sources of information, i.e., 1 H, 13 C, 15 N, and 195 Pt. 13 C-NMR and 15 N-NMR spectroscopy (of isotopically enriched complex) were especially informative for the analysis of isomer distribution. Stereoselectivity in the formation reaction of the complexes is rather modest, whereas D-, and L-isomers can be separated efficiently by crystallization. A mixture of [Pt{(S)-pn} 3 ] 4 and [Pt{(R)-pn} 3 ] 4 shows no scrambling of the enantiomeric ligands, thus proving the inertness of the complexes.