Chapter 154 Antenna effect in encapsulation complexes of lanthanide ions

Symmetry and Rigidity for Boosting Erbium-Based Molecular Light-Upconversion in Solution

Previously limited to highly symmetrical homoleptic triple-helical complexes [Er(Lk)3 ]3+ , where Lk are polyaromatic tridentate ligands, single-center molecular-based upconversion using linear optics and exploiting the excited-state absorption mechanism (ESA) greatly benefits from the design of stable and low-symmetrical [LkEr(hfa)3 ] heteroleptic adducts (hfa- =hexafluoroacetylacetonate anion). Depending on (i) the extended π-electron delocalization, (ii) the flexibility and (iii) the heavy atom effect brought by the bound ligand Lk, the near-infrared (801 nm) to visible green (542 nm) upconversion quantum yield measured for [LkEr(hfa)3 ] in solution at room temperature can be boosted by up to three orders of magnitude.

How tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) BY-2 cells cope with Eu(III) - a microspectroscopic study

The extensive use of lanthanides in science, industry and high-technology products is accompanied by an anthropogenic input of rare earth elements into the environment. Knowledge of a metal's environmental fate is essential for reasonable risk assessment and remediation approaches. In the present study, Eu(III) was representatively used as a luminescent probe to study the chemical environment and to elucidate the molecular interactions of lanthanides with a suspension cell culture of Nicotiana tabacum BY-2. Biochemical methods were combined with luminescence spectroscopy, two-dimensional microspectroscopic mappings, and data deconvolution methods to resolve the bioassociation behavior and spatial distribution of Eu(III) in plant cells. BY-2 cells were found to gradually take up the metal after exposure to 100 μM Eu(III) without significant loss of viability. Time-resolved luminescence measurements were used to specify the occurrence of Eu(III) species as a function of time, revealing the transformation of an initial Eu(III) species into another after 24 h exposure. Chemical microscopy and subsequent iterative factor analysis reveal the presence of four distinct Eu(III) species located at different cellular compartments, e.g., the cell nucleus, nucleolus and cell walls, which could be assigned to intracellular binding motifs. In addition, a special type of bioaccumulation occurs through the formation of a Eu(III)-containing oxalate biomineral, which is already formed within the first 24 hours after metal exposure. Oxalate crystals were also obtained in analogous experiments with Gd and Sm. These results indicate that tobacco BY-2 cells induce the precipitation of metal oxalate biominerals for detoxification of lanthanides, although they also bind to other cellular ligands at the same time.

Rational Loading of Linear Multi-Site Receptors with Functional Lanthanide Containers: The Missing Link between Oligomers and Polymers

Although metal-containing organic polymers are becoming essential for modern applications in lighting, catalysis, and electronic devices, very little is known about their controlled metallic loading, which mainly limits their design to empirical mixing followed by characterization and often hampers rational developments. Focusing on the appealing optical and magnetic properties of 4f-block cations, the host-guest reactions leading to linear lanthanidopolymers already display some unexpected dependence of the binding-site affinities on the length of the organic polymer backbone: a drift usually, and erroneously, assigned to intersite cooperativity. Taking advantage of the parameters obtained for the stepwise thermodynamic loading of a series of rigid linear multi-tridentate organic receptors with increasing length, N = 1 (monomer L1), N = 2 (dimer L2), and N = 3 (trimer L3), with [Ln(hfa)3] containers in solution (Ln = trivalent lanthanide cations, hfa- = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-pentane-2,4-dione anion), it is demonstrated here that the site-binding model, based on the Potts-Ising approach, successfully predicts the binding properties of the novel soluble polymer P2N made up of nine successive binding units . An in-depth examination of the photophysical properties of these lanthanidopolymers shows impressive UV→vis downshifting quantum yields for the europium-based red luminescence, which can be modulated by the length of the polymeric chain.

Tracking Zone-wise perturbation during unfolding of some globular proteins using Eu(III) complex of Tetracycline as a probe exhibiting Stark splitting

Enhanced 'Antenna effect' of a suitably designed ternary complex of Eu(III), Tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) and globular proteins viz bovine serum albumin (BSA), human serum albumin (HSA) and β-lactoglobulin A (BLGA) in aqueous medium is employed to characterize the different partially unfolded states along with investigation of the micro- heterogeneous environment of the proteins during their stepwise unfolding. The zone-wise perturbation for the proteins upon denaturation by Urea and Guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn. HCl) is followed by the emission of Eu(III) through 'Antenna Effect' and that of the tryptophan (Trp) residues of the proteins as a function of denaturants both by steady state and time resolved emission study. With Gdn. HCl as denaturant, both BSA and BLGA show quenching of Eu(III) emission compared to pure protein while HSA exhibits an enhancement of antenna effect during unfolding as compared to that in its absence. In the presence of Urea, HSA and BSA show enhancement of antenna effect accompanied by Stark splitting of the ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ transition of Eu(III) although BLGA follows the similar pattern of quenching of Eu(III) emission as observed with Gdn. HCl without any Stark splitting. The proteins exhibit a two state transition with ΔG_D values of ~ 2-3 kcal mol^-1. Thus the use of Eu(III) emission as an efficient probe is advocating here to rationalize the microenvironment of the proteins during their stepwise unfolding.

Optimizing sensitization processes in dinuclear luminescent lanthanide oligomers: selection of rigid aromatic spacers

This work illustrates a simple approach for optimizing the lanthanide luminescence in molecular dinuclear lanthanide complexes and identifies a particular multidentate europium complex as the best candidate for further incorporation into polymeric materials. The central phenyl ring in the bis-tridentate model ligands L3–L5, which are substituted with neutral (X = H, L3), electron-withdrawing (X = F, L4), or electron-donating (X = OCH3, L5) groups, separates the 2,6-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine binding units of linear oligomeric multi-tridentate ligand strands that are designed for the complexation of luminescent trivalent lanthanides, Ln(III). Reactions of L3–L5 with [Ln(hfac)3(diglyme)] (hfac– is the hexafluoroacetylacetonate anion) produce saturated single-stranded dumbbell-shaped complexes [Ln2(Lk)(hfac)6] (k = 3–5), in which the lanthanide ions of the two nine-coordinate neutral [N3Ln(hfac)3] units are separated by 12–14 Å. The thermodynamic affinities of [Ln(hfac)3] for the tridentate binding sites in L3–L5 are average (6.6 ≤ log(β(2,1)(Y,Lk)) ≤ 8.4) but still result in 15–30% dissociation at millimolar concentrations in acetonitrile. In addition to the empirical solubility trend found in organic solvents (L4 > L3 >> L5), which suggests that the 1,4-difluorophenyl spacer in L4 is preferable, we have developed a novel tool for deciphering the photophysical sensitization processes operating in [Eu2(Lk)(hfac)6]. A simple interpretation of the complete set of rate constants characterizing the energy migration mechanisms provides straightforward objective criteria for the selection of [Eu2(L4)(hfac)6] as the most promising building block.

Emission Properties, Solubility, Thermodynamic Analysis and NMR Studies of Rare-Earth Complexes with Two Different Phosphine Oxides

The paper proposes novel molecular designs for rare-earth complexes involving the introduction of two different phosphine oxide structures into one rare-earth ion. These designs are effective for improving solubility and emission intensity. Additionally, the complexes are indispensable for realizing high performances in LEDs and security media. The thermodynamic properties of Eu(III) complexes are correlated with the solubility. Correlations between coordination structures and emission intensity were explained by NMR analysis. The luminous flux of red LED devices with Eu(III) complexes is very high (20 mA, 870 m lumen). A new white LED has its largest spectra intensity in the red region and a human looks much more vividly under this light.

Terbium Luminescence Sensitized through Three-Photon Excitation in a Self-Assembled Unlinked Antenna

The organic-terbium hybrid compound designed with the azido molecule L, 2-methoxy benzoic acid tris-(2-methoxybenzoyl)hydrazide, exhibits three-photon-excited green emission as well as second-harmonic generation even though the antenna is unlinked from the metal center.

3-Phenyl-4-benzoyl-5-isoxazolonate Complex of Eu3+ with Tri-n-octylphosphine Oxide as a Promising Light-Conversion Molecular Device

Three new europium complexes, [Eu(PBI)3.3H2O] (1), [Eu(PBI)3.2TOPO] (2), and [Eu(PBI)3.2TPPO.H2O] (3) (where HPBI, TOPO, and TPPO stand for 3-phenyl-4-benzoyl-5-isoxazolone, tri-n-octylphosphine oxide, and triphenylphosphine oxide, respectively), with different neutral ligands were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared, (1)H NMR, thermogravimetric analysis, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The coordination geometries of the complexes were calculated using the Sparkle/AM1 (Sparkle Model for the Calculation of Lanthanide Complexes within the Austin Model 1) model. The ligand-Eu3+ energy-transfer rates were calculated in terms of a model of the intramolecular energy-transfer process in lanthanide coordination compounds reported in the literature. The room-temperature PL spectra of the europium(III) complexes are composed of the typical Eu3+ red emission, assigned to transitions between the first excited state (5D0) and the multiplet (7F(0-4)). On the basis of emission spectra and lifetimes of the 5D0-emitting level, the emission quantum efficiency (eta) was determined. The results clearly show that the substitution of water molecules by TOPO leads to greatly enhanced quantum efficiency (i.e., 26% vs 92%) and longer 5D0 lifetimes (250 vs 1160 micros). This can be ascribed to a more efficient ligand-to-metal energy transfer and a less nonradiative 5D0 relaxation process. Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters (Omega2 and Omega4) were determined from the emission spectra for the Eu3+ ion based on the 5D0 --> 7F2 and 5D0 --> 7F4 electronic transitions, respectively, and the 5D0 --> 7F1 magnetic-dipole-allowed transition was taken as the reference. A point to be noted in these results is the relatively high value of the Omega2 intensity parameter for all of the complexes. This may be interpreted as being a consequence of the hypersensitive behavior of the 5D0 --> 7F2 transition. The dynamic coupling mechanism is, therefore, dominant, indicating that the Eu3+ ion is in a highly polarizable chemical environment.

Density Functional Theory Investigation of Eu(III) Complexes with β-Diketonates and Phosphine Oxides: Model Complexes of Fluorescence Compounds for Ultraviolet LED Devices

The density functional theory was employed to investigate Eu(III) complexes with three beta-diketonates and two phosphine oxides (complex M1: Eu(bdk)3(TPPO)2, complex M2: Eu(bdk)3(TMPO)2, and complex M3: Eu(bdk)3(TPPO)(TMPO)) deemed to be the model complexes of the fluorescence compounds for the ultraviolet LED devices we have recently developed. For each complex, two minimum energy points corresponding to two different optimized geometries (structures A and B) have been found, and the difference of the energy between two minimum energy points is found to be quite small (less than 1 kcal/mol). Vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths for each complex at two optimized geometries have been obtained by the time-dependent density functional theory, and the character of the excited states has been investigated. For complex M3, the absorption edge is red-shifted, and the oscillator strengths are relatively large. The efficiency of intersystem crossing and energy transfer from the triplet excited state to the Eu(III) ion is considered by calculating DeltaE(ISC) (the energy difference between the first singlet excited state and the first triplet excited state) and DeltaE(ET) (the difference between the excitation energy of the complex for the first triplet excited state and the emission energy of the Eu(III) ion for 5D to 7F).

Ground States, Excited States, and Metal−Ligand Bonding in Rare Earth Hexachloro Complexes: A DFT-Based Ligand Field Study

Metal (4f)-ligand (Cl 3p) bonding in LnCl(6)(3-) (Ln = Ce to Yb) complexes has been studied on the basis of 4f-->4f and Cl,3p-->4f charge-transfer spectra and on the analysis of these spectra within the valence bond configuration interaction model to show that mixing of Cl 3p into the Ln 4f ligand field orbitals does not exceed 1%. Contrary to this, Kohn-Sham formalism of density functional theory using currently available approximations to the exchange-correlation functional tends to strongly overestimate 4f-3p covalency, yielding, for YbCl(6)(3-), a much larger mixing of Cl 3p-->4f charge transfer into the f(13) ionic ground-state wave function. Thus, ligand field density functional theory, which was recently developed and applied with success to complexes of 3d metals in our group, yields anomalously large ligand field splittings for Ln, the discrepancy with experiment increasing from left to the right of the Ln 4f series. It is shown that eliminating artificial ligand-to-metal charge transfer in Kohn-Sham calculations by a procedure described in this work leads to energies of 4f-4f transitions in good agreement with experiment. We recall an earlier concept of Ballhausen and Dahl which describes ligand field in terms of a pseudopotential and give a thorough analysis of the contributions to the ligand field from electrostatics (crystal field) and exchange (Pauli) repulsion. The close relation of the present results with those obtained using the first-principles based and electron density dependent effective embedding potential is pointed out along with implications for applications to other systems.

Visible and near-infrared intense luminescence from water-soluble lanthanide [Tb(III), Eu(III), Sm(III), Dy(III), Pr(III), Ho(III), Yb(III), Nd(III), Er(III)] complexes

The synthesis of a new ligand (1) containing a single phenanthroline (phen) chromophore and a flexibly connected diethylenetriamine tetracarboxylic acid unit (DTTA) as a lanthanide (Ln) coordination site is reported [1 is 4-[(9-methyl-1,10-phenantrol-2-yl)methyl]-1,4,7-triazaheptane-1,1,7,7-tetraacetic acid]. From 1, an extended series of water-soluble Ln.1 complexes was obtained, where Ln is Eu(III), Tb(III), Gd(III), Sm(III), Dy(III), Pr(III), Ho(III), Yb(III), Nd(III), and Er(III). The stoichiometry for the association was found 1:1, with an association constant K(A) > or = 10(7) s(-1) as determined by employing luminescence spectroscopy. The luminescence and photophysical properties of the series of lanthanide complexes were investigated in both H2O and D2O solutions. High efficiencies for the sensitized emission, phi(se), in air-equilibrated water were observed for the Ln.1 complexes of Eu(III) and Tb(III) in the visible region (phi(se) = 0.24 and 0.15, respectively) and of Sm(III), Dy(III), Pr(III), Ho(III), Yb(III), Nd(III), and Er(III) in the vis and/or near-infrared region [phi(se) = 2.5 x 10(-3), 5 x 10(-4), 3 x 10(-5), 2 x 10(-5), 2 x 10(-4), 4 x 10(-5), and (in D2O) 4 x 10(-5), respectively]. For Eu.1 and Tb.1, luminescence data for water and deuterated water allowed us to estimate that no solvent molecules (q) are bound to the ion centers (q = 0). Luminescence quenching by oxygen was investigated in selected cases.

The Solution Structure of Rhombic Lanthanide Complexes Analyzed with a Model-Free and Crystal-Field Independent Paramagnetic NMR Method: Application to Nonaxial Trimetallic Complexes [LnxLu3-x(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+ (x = 1−3)

The model-free approach has been extended with the derivation of a novel three-nuclei crystal-field independent method for investigating isostructurality in nonaxial (i.e., rhombic) complexes along the lanthanide series. Application of this technique to the heterotrimetallic sandwich complexes [LnLu2(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+, which possess a single C2v-symmetrical paramagnetic center, unambiguously evidences isostructurality for Ln = Pr-Yb, while the variation of the second-rank crystal-field parameters and along the series prevents reliable structural analyses with the classical one-nucleus equation. Extension toward polymetallic magnetically noncoupled rhombic lanthanide complexes in [Ln2Lu(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+ (two paramagnetic centers with Cs microsymmetry) and [Ln3(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+ (three paramagnetic centers with C2v microsymmetry) requires only minor modifications of the original three-nuclei equation. Isostructurality characterizes [Ln2Lu(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+ (Ln = Pr-Yb), while [Ln3(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+ exhibit a structural change between Eu and Tb which results from the concomitant contraction of the three metallic centers. Particular attention has been focused on (i) the stepwise increase of contact (i.e., through-bond) and pseudocontact (i.e., through-space) contributions when the number of paramagnetic centers increases, (ii) the assignment of 13C resonances in the strongly paramagnetic complexes [Ln3(TACI-3H)2(H2O)6]3+ (Ln = Tb-Yb) for which reliable T1 measurements and [1H-13C] correlation spectra are not accessible, and (iii) the combination of crystal-field dependent and independent methods for analyzing the paramagnetic NMR spectra of axial and nonaxial lanthanide complexes.

Photoluminescent Dinuclear Lanthanide Complexes with Tris(2-pyridyl)carbinol Acting as a New Tetradentate Bridging Ligand

A tripodal ligand, tris(2-pyridyl)carbinol, affords a novel tetradentate coordination mode in homodinuclear lanthanide complexes, which exhibit remarkably short distances between metal ions. The strong luminescences of Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes with the ligand demonstrate that the ligand has a suitable excited state for energy transfer from the ligand to the Eu(III) and Tb(III) centers, respectively.

Connecting terminal carboxylate groups in nine-coordinate lanthanide podates: consequences on the thermodynamic, structural, electronic, and photophysical properties

The hydrolysis of terminal (t)butyl-ester groups provides the novel nonadentate podand tris[2-[N-methylcarbamoyl-(6-carboxypyridine-2)-ethyl]amine] (L13) which exists as a mixture of slowly interconverting conformers in solution. At pH = 8.0 in water, its deprotonated form [L13 - 3H](3-) reacts with Ln(ClO(4))(3) to give the poorly soluble and stable podates [Ln(L13 - 3H)] (log(beta(110)) = 6.7-7.0, Ln = La-Lu). The isolated complexes [Ln(L13 - 3H)](H(2)O)(7) (Ln = Eu, 8; Tb, 9; Lu, 10) are isostructural, and their crystal structures show Ln(III) to be nine-coordinate in a pseudotricapped trigonal prismatic site defined by the donor atoms of the three helically wrapped tridentate binding units of L13. The Ln-O(carboxamide) bonds are only marginally longer than the Ln-O(carboxylate) bonds in [Ln(L13 - 3H)], thus producing a regular triple helix around Ln(III) which reverses its screw direction within the covalent Me-TREN tripod. High-resolution emission spectroscopy demonstrates that (i) the replacement of terminal carboxamides with carboxylates induces only minor electronic changes for the metallic site, (ii) the solid-state structure is maintained in water, and (iii) the metal in the podate is efficiently protected from interactions with solvent molecules. The absolute quantum yields obtained for [Eu(L13 - 3H)] (Phi(Eu)(tot)= 1.8 x 10(-3)) and [Tb(L13 - 3H)] (Phi(Eu)(tot)= 8.9 x 10(-3)) in water remain modest and strongly contrast with that obtained for the lanthanide luminescence step (Phi(Eu) = 0.28). Detailed photophysical studies assign this discrepancy to the small energy gap between the ligand-centered singlet ((1)pi pi*) and triplet ((3)pi pi*) states which limits the efficiency of the intersystem crossing process. Theoretical TDDFT calculations suggest that the connection of a carboxylate group to the central pyridine ring prevents the sizable stabilization of the triplet state required for an efficient sensitization process. The thermodynamic and electronic origins of the advantages (stability, lanthanide quantum yield) and drawbacks (solubility, sensitization) brought by the "carboxylate effect" in lanthanide complexes are evaluated for programming predetermined properties in functional devices.