Studies of divalent metal (Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+) complexes containing ferrocenecarboxylate (FcCOO-) and 4,4’-ditert-butyl bipyridyl (DTBbpy) ligands were recently reported. The DTBbpy moiety is known for having excellent luminescent properties and high catalytic activity while the ferrocenyl moiety has rich redox properties; those complexes are expected to have applications in optics and electronics. Complexes containing trivalent metals (lanthanides, actinides or transition metals) coordinated to DTBbpy and FcCOO- ligands have not yet been reported. The goal of this work is to investigate the preparation and properties of trivalent lanthanide complexes coordinated to FcCOO- and DTBbpy ligands. Here, we report the preparation and structure of seven new complexes. The new complexes exhibit the stoichiometry Ln2(FcCOO)4(DTBbpy)2(NO3)2●CH3CN (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb) and were prepared from the reaction of FcCOONa and DTBbpy with Ln(NO3)3●xH2O in methanol. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis was used to study the structure of these complexes and confirmed the formulation of Ln2(FcCOO)4(DTBbpy)2(NO3)2. The SCXRD analysis also revealed that the complexes contain dimeric Ln26+ unit (La…La = 4.0357 Å, Tb…Tb = 3.966 Å). The structural, spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization of the remaining complexes is currently in progress. Specifically, we will study how DTBbpy affects the luminescence properties of the lanthanides as compared to divalent metal (Zn2+, Cd2+, Pb2+) complexes.

Preparation and structure of lanthanide complexes coordinated to FcCOO and DTBbpy ligands

255th National Meeting (2018)

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