A new pyridine-bis(carboxamide)-based ligand with a bithiophene pendant, 2Tcbx, was synthesized. Its lanthanide ion (Ln III ) complexes, [Ln(2Tcbx) 2 ] 3+ , were isolated and their photophysical properties were explored. Upon excitation at 360 nm, these complexes display emission in the near-infrared (NIR) with efficiencies of 0.69% for Ln III = Yb III , 0.20% for Ln III = Nd III , and 0.01% for Ln III = Er III , respectively. Concurrent 1 O 2 formation was seen for all complexes, with efficiencies of 19% for the Yb III complex, 25% for the Nd III complex, and 9% for the Er III complex. When exciting at a longer wavelength, 435 nm, only Ln III emission was observed and larger efficiencies of Ln III -centered emission were obtained. The lack of 1 O 2 generation indicates that energy pathways involving different ligand conformations, which were investigated by transient absorption spectroscopy, are involved in the sensitization process, and enable the wavelength-dependent generation of 1 O 2 .
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A Versatile Tripodal Ligand for Sensitizing Lanthanide (LnIII) Ions and Color Tuning
Lanthanide (LnIII) ions were successfully chelated and sensitized with a tripodal ligand. The absolute LnIII-centered emission efficiencies were ~3% for both the europium(III) (EuIII) and terbium (TbIII) complexes and up to 54% for the cerium(III) (CeIII) complex. The differences in emission quantum yields for the early lanthanides (CeIII) and the mid lanthanides (EuIII and TbIII) were attributed to their d–f and f–f nature, respectively. Despite the low quantum yield of the EuIII complex, the combination of the residual ligand fluorescence and the red EuIII emission resulted in a bluish-white material with the Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates (0.258, 0.242). Thus, metal complexes of the ligand could be used in the generation of single-component white-light-emitting materials.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1828362
- PAR ID:
- 10304026
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Chemistry
- Volume:
- 3
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2624-8549
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/chemistry3010011
