Synthesis, crystal structures, and luminescent properties of eleven new lanthanide and yttrium complexes with fluorescent whitener and 1,10-phenanthroline

Eleven new lanthanide and yttrium complexes: [M(phen)(2)(L)(H2O)(2)](2)center dot(L)center dot 2H(2)O (M = Er (1), Dy (2), Yb (3), Y (4), Sm (5), Tb (6), Ho (7), Eu (8), Nd (9), Tm (10), Gd (11); L = 4,4'-bis(2-sulfonatostyryl)biphenyl; phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), have been rationally synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction together with powder XRD, elemental analyses (EA), IR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and diffuse absorption. Powder XRD patterns of solids 1-11 demonstrate that these compounds are isomorphous. X-Ray single-crystal diffraction reveals that these complexes possess an interesting [M(phen)(2)(L)(H2O)(2)](2)(2+) dimer, which is arranged further to form a 3D structure through hydrogen bonds. Solids 1-11 exhibit attractive photoluminescence due to the L anions lying in two different environments. Especially, the luminescent color of solids 2-8 and the lifetime of solid 6 can be reversibly tuned by shifting the wavelength of excited light.