“Anion clamp” allows flexible protein to impose coordination geometry on metal ions

X-ray crystal structures of human serum transferrin (77 kDa) with Yb^III or Fe^III bound to the C-lobe and malonate as the synergistic anion show that the large Yb^III ion causes the expansion of the metal binding pocket while octahedral metal coordination geometry is preserved, an unusual geometry for a lanthanide ion.

Luminescence behaviour in acetonitrile and in the solid state of a series of lanthanide complexes with a single helical ligand

Luminescence properties of Eu^III, Tb^III, Gd^III and Nd^III complexes with a hexadentate ligand (abbreviated to EuL, TbL, GdL, and NdL, respectively), which have two bipyridine moieties bridged by an ethylenediamine unit, have been examined in acetonitrile and in the solid state.