Synthesis, crystal structure and luminescence properties of lanthanide complexes with a new semirigid bridging furfurylsalicylamide ligand

We present here new lanthanide coordination polymers based on a semirigid bridging furfurylsalicylamide ligand which were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray powder diffraction and IR measurements. The coordination polymer [Pr2L3(NO3)(6)](infinity) displays a two-dimensional honeycomb-like framework, which can be regarded as a (6,3) topological network with praseodymium atoms acting as "three-connected'' centers. The photoluminescence analysis indicates that there is an efficient ligand-to-LnIII energy transfer in TbIII complex and the ligand is an efficient "antenna'' for TbIII. From a more general perspective, the results demonstrated herein provide the possibility of controlling the formation of the desired lanthanide coordination structure to enrich the crystal engineering strategy and enlarges the arsenal for developing excellent luminescent lanthanide complexes of salicylamide derivatives. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.