Rational Design of Dual IR and Visible Highly Luminescent Light-Lanthanides-Based Coordination Polymers.

A series of isostructural homo- and heterolanthanide coordination polymers of formula [Ln2(dcpa)3(H2O)]∞ with Ln = La-Gd have been obtained by reactions in water between the lightest lanthanide chlorides and the disodium salt of 4,5-dichlorophthalic acid (H2dcpa). They present particularly high thermal stability for coordination compounds (up to 400 °C). Their luminescent properties have been studied in detail. Interestingly an insensitivity to water coordination as well as a very strong effect of optical dilution is observed. Therefore, molecular alloys with very high lanthanum concentration have been prepared. Some of them present highly tunable and very intense luminescence. For example, to the best of our knowledge, [Sm0.04La1.96(dcpa)3(H2O)]∞ presents one of the highest overall quantum yields measured so far for a Sm3+-based coordination compound (QSmLigand = 9.2%), and [Nd0.03Sm0.14Eu0.03La1.8(dcpa)3(H2O)]∞ is one of the brightest (12 Cd·m-2 under 0.75 mW·cm-2 UV flux) multiemissive visible and near-infrared lanthanide-coordination polymers reported to date.

High Luminance of Heterolanthanide-Based Molecular Alloys by Phase-Induction Strategy.

Reactions in water of lanthanide chlorides with the sodium salt of 4,5-dichlorophthalate (dcpa2-) lead to two families of isostructural coordination polymers: family F1 that gathers compounds with the general chemical formula [Ln2(dcpa)3(H2O)]∞ with Ln = La-Gd (except Pm) and family F2 that gathers compounds with general chemical formula [Ln2(dcpa)3(H2O)5·3H2O]∞ with Ln = Tb-Lu plus Y. Heterolanthanide molecular alloys that contain both Eu3+ and Tb3+ ions have been prepared in both structural families. Their luminescence properties have been studied, especially from the brightness point of view. This study revealed that structural family F1 provides molecular alloys that are much more luminescent than those of structural family F2. Therefore, a phase-induction strategy was followed that allowed the design of some molecular alloys (La/Tb/Eu and La/Dy) that are, to the best of our knowledge, among the most luminescent coordination polymers reported so far. This study opens the way to bright luminescent bar codes as well as to bright white luminescent lanthanide-based coordination polymers.

Characterization and Luminescence Properties of Lanthanide-Based Polynuclear Complexes Nanoaggregates.

For the first time, hexanuclear complexes with general chemical formula [Ln6O(OH)8(NO3)6(H2O)n](2+) with n = 12 for Ln = Sm-Lu and Y and n = 14 for Ln = Pr and Nd were stabilized as nanoaggregates in ethylene glycol (EG). These unprecedented nanoaggregates were structurally characterized by (89)Y and (1)H NMR spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption and luminescence spectroscopies, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, diffusion ordered spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. These nanoaggregates present a 200 nm mean solvodynamic diameter. In these nanoaggregates, hexanuclear complexes are isolated and solvated by EG molecules. The replacement of ethylene glycol by 2-hydroxybenzyl alcohol provides new nanoaggregates that present an antenna effect toward lanthanide ions. This results in a significant enhancement of the luminescence properties of the aggregates and demonstrates the suitability of the strategy for obtaining highly tunable luminescent solutions.

Experimental and theoretical evidence that electrostatics governs easy-axis orientation in Dy(III)-based molecular chains.

Magnetic slow relaxation is observed in a Dy(III)-based molecular chain and the magnetic easy-axis is determined via single-crystal magnetometry. Ab initio calculations confirm its orientation and highlight that the latter is governed neither by coordination polyhedron symmetry nor by the chain direction but rather by the single-ion electrostatic environment, a feature that is confirmed by a similar theoretical analysis on other Dy(III) chains.

Crystal structure of [Y6(µ6-O)(µ3-OH)8(H2O)24]I8·8H2O.

The crystal structure of the title compound {systematic name: octa-µ3-hydroxido-µ6-oxido-hexa-kis-[tetra-aqua-yttrium(III)] octa-iodide octa-hydrate}, is characterized by the presence of the centrosymmetric mol-ecular entity [Y6(µ6-O)(µ3-OH)8(H2O)24](8+), in which the six Y(3+) cations are arranged octa-hedrally around a µ6-O atom at the centre of the cationic complex. Each of the eight faces of the Y6 octa-hedron is capped by an µ3-OH group in the form of a distorted cube. In the hexa-nuclear entity, the Y(3+) cations are coordinated by the central µ6-O atom, the O atoms of four µ3-OH and of four water mol-ecules. The resulting coordination sphere of the metal ions is a capped square-anti-prism. The crystal packing is quite similar to that of the ortho-rhom-bic [Ln 6(µ6-O)(µ3-OH)8(H2O)24]I8·8H2O structures with Ln = La-Nd, Eu-Tb, Dy, except that the title compound exhibits a slight monoclinic distortion. The proximity of the cationic complexes and the lattice water mol-ecules leads to the formation of a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network of medium strength.

Coordination polymers based on heterohexanuclear rare earth complexes: toward independent luminescence brightness and color tuning.

Reactions in solvothermal conditions between hexanuclear rare earth complexes and H2bdc, where H2bdc symbolizes terephthalic acid, lead to a family of monodimensional coordination polymers in which hexanuclear complexes act as metallic nodes. The hexanuclear cores can be either homometallic with general chemical formula [Ln6O(OH)8(NO3)6](2+) (Ln = Pr-Lu plus Y) or heterometallic with general chemical formula [Ln(6x)Ln'(6-6x)O(OH)8(NO3)6](2+) (Ln and Ln' = Pr-Lu plus Y). Whatever the hexanuclear entity is, the resulting coordination polymer is iso-structural to [Y6O(OH)8(NO3)2(bdc)(Hbdc)2·2NO3·H2bdc]∞, a coordination polymer that we have previously reported. The random distribution of the lanthanide ions over the six metallic sites of the hexanuclear entities is demonstrated by (89)Y solid state NMR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and luminescent measurements. The luminescent and colorimetric properties of selected compounds that belong to this family have been studied. These studies demonstrate that some of these compounds exhibit very promising optical properties and that there are two ways of modulating the luminescent properties: (i) playing with the composition of the heterohexanuclear entities or (ii) playing with the relative ratio between two different hexanuclear entities. This enables the independent tuning of luminescence intensity and color.