Synthesis, spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of substituted bis(phthalocyaninato)lanthanide(III) complexes

The sandwich-like bis(phthalocyaninato)lanthanide(III) complexes Ln[Pc'(R)(8)](2) (Ln = Eu, Gd; Pc' = 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octasubstituted phthalocyaninate; R = H, n-C7H15, OC5H11) have been prepared by treating Ln(acac)(3) . nH(2)O (Ln = Eu, Gd; acac = acetylacetonate) with dilithium phthalocyaninate or with the corresponding disubstituted phthalonitriles in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU). The spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of the substituted sandwich complexes have been investigated and compared with those of the unsubstituted analogues. The matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) have also been employed to unambiguously characterise this novel class of compounds for the first time. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd