Tuning Selectivity and Stability in Heteroleptic Lanthanide Adducts by Ligand Design

Terdentate ligands L10-L14 and their heteroleptic [LkLn(hfac)3] complexes (Ln = La, Eu, Gd, Er, or Y; H-hfac = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoropentane-2,4-dione) exhibit multifactorial correlations between the ligand's structural frameworks, including their level of preorganization and steric congestion and their affinities and selectivities for catching the trivalent lanthanide containers [Ln(hfac)3]. The polyaromatic ligand scaffolds could be stepwise modulated via lanthanide-template synthetic strategies, using intermolecular rhodium-catalyzed insertion reactions. The increasing level of preorganization along the L10 → L11 → L12 series leads to a duality in which larger thermodynamic formation constants with lanthanides in CD2Cl2 are accompanied by an unexpected decrease in the Ln-N affinities in the solid state, which could be assigned to a limited match between the lanthanide size and the enlarged preorganized cavities. On the contrary, a reduced stability is induced by the connection of additional methyl groups at position 1 of the benzimidazole moieties in L13 and L14, which is accompanied by an optimization of metal-nitrogen bond lengths. This study contributes to the rational design of highly stable neutral heteroleptic lanthanide β-diketonate adducts that resist dissociation in solution, a prerequisite for photophysical applications using these highly luminescent systems at the molecular level.

From tetranuclear to pentanuclear [Co-Ln] (Ln = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho) complexes across the lanthanide series: effect of varying sequence of ligand addition

Two new families of cobalt(ii/iii)-lanthanide(iii) coordination aggregates have been reported: tetranuclear [LnCoL₂(N-BuDEA)₂(O₂CCMe₃)₄(H₂O)₂]·(MeOH)_n·(H₂O)_m (Ln = Gd, 1; Tb, 2; Dy, 3; n = 2, m = 10 for 1 and 2; n = 6, m = 2 for 3) and pentanuclear LnCo^IICoL₂(N-BuDEA)₂(O₂CCMe₃)₆(MeOH)₂ (Ln = Dy, 4; Ho, 5) formed from the reaction of two aggregation assisting ligands H₂L (o-vanillin oxime) and N-BuDEAH₂ (N-butyldiethanolamine). A change in preference from a lower to higher nuclearity structure was observed on going across the lanthanide series brought about by the variation in the size of the Ln^III ions. An interesting observation was made for the varying sequence of addition of the ligands into the reaction medium paving the way to access both structural types for Ln = Dy. HRMS (+ve) of solutions gave further insight into the formation of the aggregates via different pathways. The tetranuclear complexes adopt a modified butterfly structure with a more complex bridging network while trapping of an extra Co^II ion in the pentanuclear complexes destroys this arrangement putting the Co-Co-Co axis above the Ln-Ln axis. Direct current (dc) magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal weak antiferromagnetic coupling in 1. Complexes 2 and 5 display no slow magnetic relaxation, whereas complexes 3 and 4 display out-of-phase signals at low temperature in ac susceptibility measurements. All compounds were analyzed with DFT and CASSCF calculations and informations about the single-ion anisotropies and mutual 4f-4f/4f-3d magnetic interactions were derived.

Two-dimensional heterometallic CuIILnIII (Ln = Tb and Dy) coordination polymers bridged by dicyanamides showing slow magnetic relaxation behavior

Two-dimensional heterometallic Cu^IILn^III (Ln = Gd, Tb and Dy) coordination polymers bridged by dicyanamides showed slow magnetic relaxation behaviour and a magnetic hysteresis loop at 1.8 K was observed for the CuTb compound.

Slow magnetic relaxation in Ni–Ln (Ln = Ce, Gd, Dy) dinuclear complexes

Unusual magnetic behaviour is observed in compounds with three Cl ligands in fac-mode coordination to dysprosium, cerium and even gadolinium.

A new co-crystal dinuclear/trinuclear ZnII-ZnII/ZnII-SmIII-ZnII complex with a salen-type Schiff base ligand

In the penta-nuclear title complex, [SmZn2(C22H18N2O4)2(NCS)2(C3H7NO)2][Zn2(C22H18N2O4)(NCS)3]·C3H7NO·0.32H2O, namely bis-{μ2-6,6'-dimeth-oxy-2,2'-[phenyl-ene-1,2-diylbis(nitrilo-methanylyl-idene)]diphenolato}-1κ4 O,N,N',O':2κ3 O,O',O 6;2κ3 O,O',O 6:3κ4 O,N,N',O'-bis-(di-methyl-formamide-2κO)di-thiocyanato-1κN,3κN-2-samarium(III)-1,3-dizinc(II) {μ2-6,6'-dimeth-oxy-2,2'-[phenyl-ene-1,2-diylbis(nitrilo-methanylyl-idene)]diphenolato-1κ4 O,N,N',O':2κ2 O,O'}trithio-cyan-ato-1κN;2κ2 N,N-dizinc(II) di-methyl-formamide monosolvate 1.32-hydrate, a dinuclear unit and a trinuclear unit co-exist. One of the ZnII centers in the dinuclear unit as well as the two ZnII centers in the trinuclear unit are located in the inner N2O2 cavity of the ligand and are coordinated to the nitro-gen atom of one thio-cyanate moiety, giving rise to a square-pyramidal geometry. The second ZnII center in the dinuclear unit is coordinated to the two phenolate oxygen atoms of the ligand and to two thio-cyanate groups via the nitro-gen atom in a tetra-hedral geometry. The SmIII ion is eight-coordinated by four phenolate O atoms from the two ligand mol-ecules, two meth-oxy O atoms from the two ligand mol-ecules and two O atoms from the DFM solvent mol-ecule. In the dinuclear unit, the two meth-oxy oxygen atoms remain uncoordinated while in the trinuclear unit, for each ligand one meth-oxy oxygen is coordinated and the other one remains uncoordinated. In the crystal, the trinuclear cationic units and dinuclear anionic units are assembled into infinite layers. These layers are held together via electrostatic inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional structure. In the dinuclear unit, the C and S atoms of one of the thio-cyanate groups are disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.680 (4)(4):0.320 (4) ratio.

Playing with Pearson's concept: orthogonally functionalized 1,4-diaza-1,3-butadienes leading to heterobinuclear complexes

By reacting 1,2-diketones and ortho- diphenylphosphinoyl aniline in the presence of zinc(ii) as a templating agent, cationic zinc(ii) complexes of novel phosphine oxide functionalized 1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene ligands are acessible. Herein the zinc(ii) site is bound to all four donor atoms of the ligand. Depending on the flexibility of the 1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene backbone, the bonds to zinc(ii) from the 1,4-diaza-1,3-butadiene donors can be broken. Reaction with oxalate cleaves the zinc(ii) coordination completely and makes accessible the free ligands possessing orthogonal (N,N: soft; O,O: hard) sets of donor sites. This allows for the specific coordination of soft and hard Lewis acids and thus for the generation of heterobimetallic complexes, here exemplarily shown for the combination of palladium(ii) (soft) and zinc(ii) (hard) centres.

Weak interactions cause selective cocrystal formation of lanthanide nitrates and tetra-2-pyridinylpyrazine

Two series of cocrystals Ln(NO₃)₅·H₂TPPZ are synthesized enlightening the lanthanide contraction effect and weak hydrogen bonding interactions in determining the selective cocrystallization, stability and energy transfer for luminescence.

Sensitization of NIR luminescence of Yb3+ by Zn2+ chromophores in heterometallic complexes with a bridging Schiff-base ligand

Herein, complexes [ZnL]₂ (1), {(H₂O)Zn(μ-L)Yb[OCH(CF₃)₂]₃} (2), {[(CF₃)₂HCO]Zn(μ-L)Yb[OCH(CF₃)₂](μ-OH)}₂ (3), and [(H₂O)Ln₂(L)₃] (Ln = Yb (4) and Gd (5)) containing a bridging Schiff-base ligand (H₂L = N,N'-bis(3-methoxy salicylidene)phenylene-1,2-diamine) were synthesized. The compounds 1-4 were structurally characterized. The ytterbium derivatives 2-4 exhibited bright NIR metal-centred photoluminescence (PL) of Yb³⁺ ion under one- (λ_ex = 380 nm) and two-photon (λ_ex = 750 nm) excitation. The superior luminescence properties of complex 2, which was suggested as a marker for NIR bioimaging, were explained via the strong absorption of the 375 nm LMCT state of the ZnL chromophore, efficient energy transfer from ZnL towards Yb³⁺ through a reversible ligand-to-lanthanide electron transfer process, and absence of luminescence quenchers (C-H and O-H groups) in the first coordination sphere of the rare-earth atom.

Spectroscopic studies of lanthanide complexes of varying nuclearity based on a compartmentalised ligand

Spectroscopic studies of lanthanide-based coordination compounds of varying nuclearity with a compartmental ligand which show NIR luminescence.

Temperature-dependent self-assembly of near-infrared (NIR) luminescent Zn2Ln and Zn2Ln3 (Ln=Nd, Yb or Er) complexes from the flexible Salen-type Schiff-base ligand

Through the self-assembly of the precursor [Zn(L)(MeCN)] (H2L=N,N'-bis(3-methoxy-salicylidene)cyclohexane-1,2-diamine) with LnCl3·6H2O (Ln=La, Nd, Yb, Er or Gd) and NaN3 in alcohol-containing solutions, two series of mixed anions-induced Zn2Ln-arrayed complexes [Zn2(L)2(MeOH)ClLn(N3)]·Cl (Ln=La, 1; Ln=Nd, 2; Ln=Yb, 3; Ln=Er, 4 or Ln=Gd, 5) and Zn2Ln3-arrayed complexes [Zn2(L)3Cl2(μ2-OH)(μ3-OH)2Ln3(N3)2] (Ln=La, 6; Ln=Nd, 7; Ln=Yb, 8; Ln=Er, 9 or Ln=Gd, 10) are obtained at room temperature or under reflux, respectively. In contrast to Zn2Ln-arrayed complexes with the two Zn2+ ions in the inner cis-N2O2 cores and one Ln3+ ion in the outer O2O2 moieties, the demetalation of partial precursors leads to the selective exchange of Zn2+ centers for the Ln3+ ions for the formation of novel heterometallic Zn2Ln3-arrayed complexes with the Ln3+ ions in both the inner cis-N2O2 core and the outer O2O2 moieties of the ligands. The result of their photophysical properties shows that the characteristic near-infrared (NIR) luminescence of Nd3+ or Yb3+ ion has been sensitized from the excited state (both 1LC and 3LC) of the ligand H2L, while relatively lower quantum yields for Zn2Ln3-arrayed complexes than those for Zn2Ln-arrayed complexes, correspondingly, should be due to the luminescent quenching with the involvement of OH- oscillators around the Ln3+ ions.

Chloride-bridged, defect-dicubane {Ln4} core clusters: syntheses, crystal structures and magnetic properties

Three chloride-bridged lanthanide compounds, [Ln4Cl6(CH3OH)12(OH)2]·4Cl·2CH3OH [Ln = Gd (), Dy () and Er ()], have been unexpectedly isolated by the reactions of LnCl3·6H2O and N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-1,2-(phenylene-diamine) (H2L). X-ray crystallographic analysis reveals a triclinic cell with a unique defect-dicubane {Ln4} core and the structure across this series is nominally isomorphic. Measurements of direct current magnetic susceptibility and isothermal magnetization give insight into the relevant cluster Hamiltonians for , , and , and alternating current susceptibility shows slow relaxation in , but not in or down to 2 K and up to 1 kHz.