Unraveling the Ground State and Excited State Structures and Dynamics of Hydrated Ce3+ Ions by Experiment and Theory

3–(2–Pyridyl)pyrazole Based Luminescent 1D-Coordination Polymers and Polymorphic Complexes of Various Lanthanide Chlorides Including Orange-Emitting Cerium(III)

A series of 18 lanthanide-containing 1D-coordination polymers 1∞[Ln2(2–PyPzH)4Cl6], Ln = La, Nd, Sm, dinuclear polymorphic complexes α–, β–[Ln2(2–PyPzH)4Cl6], Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd, α–[Tb2(2–PyPzH)4Cl6], and [Gd2(2–PyPzH)3(2–PyPz)Cl5], mononuclear complexes [Ce(2–PyPzH)3Cl3], [Ln(2–PyPzH)2Cl3], Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er, and salt-like complexes [Gd3(2–PyPzH)8Cl8]Cl and [PyH][Tb(2–PyPzH)2Cl4] were obtained from the reaction of the respective lanthanide chloride with the 3–(2–pyridyl)pyrazole (2–PyPzH) ligand at different temperatures. An antenna effect through ligand-to-metal energy transfer was observed for several products, leading to the highest luminescence efficiency displayed by a quantum yield of 92% in [Tb(2–PyPzH)2Cl3]. The Ce3+ ion in the complex [Ce(2–PyPzH)3Cl3] exhibits a bright and orange 5d-based broadband emission with a maximum at around 600 nm, marking an example of a strong reduction of the 5d-excited states of Ce(III). The absorption spectroscopy shows ion-specific 4f–4f transitions, which can be assigned to Nd3+, Sm3+, Eu3+, Dy3+, Ho3+, and Er3+ in a wide spectral range from UV–VIS to the NIR region.

Revisiting the Complexation of Cm(III) with Aqueous Phosphates: What Can We Learn from the Complex Structures Using Luminescence Spectroscopy and Ab Initio Simulations?

The coordination chemistry of Cm(III) with aqueous phosphates was investigated by means of laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy and ab initio simulations. For the first time, in addition to the presence of Cm(H₂PO₄)²⁺, the formation of Cm(H₂PO₄)₂⁺ was unambiguously established from the luminescence spectroscopic data collected at various H⁺ concentrations (-log₁₀ [H⁺] = 2.52, 3.44, and 3.65), ionic strengths (0.5-3.0 mol·L^-1 NaClO₄), and temperatures (25-90 °C). Complexation constants for both species were derived and extrapolated to standard conditions using the specific ion interaction theory. The molal enthalpy Δ_RH_m⁰ and molal entropy Δ_RS_m⁰ of both complexation reactions were derived using the integrated van't Hoff equation and indicated an endothermic and entropy-driven complexation. For the Cm(H₂PO₄)₂⁺ complex, a more satisfactory description could be obtained when including the molal heat capacity term. While monodentate binding of the H₂PO₄^- ligand(s) to the central curium ion was found to be the most stable configuration for both complexes in our ab initio simulations and luminescence lifetime analyses, a different temperature-dependent coordination to hydration water molecules could be deduced from the electronic structure of the Cm(III)-phosphate complexes. More precisely, where the Cm(H₂PO₄)²⁺ complex could be shown to retain an overall coordination number of 9 over the entire investigated temperature range, a coordination change from 9 to 8 was established for the Cm(H₂PO₄)₂⁺ species with increasing temperature.

Cerium(iv) complexes with guanidinate ligands: intense colors and anomalous electronic structures

A series of cerium(iv) mixed-ligand guanidinate–amide complexes, {[(Me₃Si)₂NC(NⁱPr)₂]_xCe^IV[N(SiMe₃)₂]_3−x}⁺ (x = 0–3), was prepared by chemical oxidation of the corresponding cerium(iii) complexes, where x = 1 and 2 represent novel complexes. The Ce(iv) complexes exhibited a range of intense colors, including red, black, cyan, and green. Notably, increasing the number of the guanidinate ligands from zero to three resulted in significant redshift of the absorption bands from 503 nm (2.48 eV) to 785 nm (1.58 eV) in THF. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra indicated increasing f occupancy (n_f) with more guanidinate ligands, and revealed the multiconfigurational ground states for all Ce(iv) complexes. Cyclic voltammetry experiments demonstrated less stabilization of the Ce(iv) oxidation state with more guanidinate ligands. Moreover, the Ce(iv) tris(guanidinate) complex exhibited temperature independent paramagnetism (TIP) arising from the small energy gap between the ground- and excited states with considerable magnetic moments. Computational analysis suggested that the origin of the low energy absorption bands was a charge transfer between guanidinate π orbitals that were close in energy to the unoccupied Ce 4f orbitals. However, the incorporation of sterically hindered guanidinate ligands inhibited optimal overlaps between Ce 5d and ligand N 2p orbitals. As a result, there was an overall decrease of ligand-to-metal donation and a less stabilized Ce(iv) oxidation state, while at the same time, more of the donated electron density ended up in the 4f shell. The results indicate that incorporating guanidinate ligands into Ce(iv) complexes gives rise to intense charge transfer bands and noteworthy electronic structures, providing insights into the stabilization of tetravalent lanthanide oxidation states.

A series of cerium(iv) mixed-ligand guanidinate-amide complexes, {[(Me₃Si)₂NC(NⁱPr)₂]_xCe^IV[N(SiMe₃)₂]_3−x}+ (x = 0−3), was prepared by chemical oxidation and studied spectroscopically and computationally, revealing trends in 4f/5d orbital occupancies.

Deep-blue organic light-emitting diodes based on a doublet d-f transition cerium(III) complex with 100% exciton utilization efficiency

Compared to red and green organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), blue OLEDs are still the bottleneck due to the lack of efficient emitters with simultaneous high exciton utilization efficiency (EUE) and short excited-state lifetime. Different from the fluorescence, phosphorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), and organic radical materials traditionally used in OLEDs, we demonstrate herein a new type of emitter, cerium(III) complex Ce-1 with spin-allowed and parity-allowed d-f transition of the centre Ce3+ ion. The compound exhibits a high EUE up to 100% in OLEDs and a short excited-state lifetime of 42 ns, which is considerably faster than that achieved in efficient phosphorescence and TADF emitters. The optimized OLEDs show an average maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 12.4% and Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.146, 0.078).

Efficient rare earth cerium(III) complex with nanosecond d−f emission for blue organic light-emitting diodes

In the field of RGB diodes, development of a blue organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a challenge because of the lack of an emitter which simultaneously has a short excited state lifetime and a high theoretical external quantum efficiency (EQE). We demonstrate herein a blue emissive rare earth cerium(III) complex Ce-2 showing a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 95% and a short excited state lifetime of 52.0 ns in doped film, which is considerably faster than that achieved in typical efficient phosphorescence or thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters (typical lifetimes >1 μs). The corresponding OLED shows a maximum EQE up to 20.8% and a still high EQE of 18.2% at 1000 cd m⁻², as well as an operation lifetime 70 times longer than that of a classic phosphorescence OLED. The excellent performance indicates that cerium(III) complex could be a candidate for efficient and stable blue OLEDs because of its spin- and parity-allowed d−f transition from the Ce³⁺ ion.

Structural and thermodynamic aspects of hydration of Gd(iii) systems

A first systematic experimental study on the thermodynamic description of the hydration equilibrium of Gd(iii) compounds is presented.