A series of supramolecular complexes constructed from discrete lanthanide dinuclear butterfly-shaped clusters: Syntheses, structures and properties

Abstract Butterfly shaped dinuclear clusters 1 – 3 , with phathaly–based dicarboxylatic group and CH 2 spacer, are synthesized by the reaction of Ln(NO 3 ) 3 (Ln = Eu 3 + , Nd 3 + , Pr 3 + ) with ligand (2-({2-[2-carbosybenzoy])oxy]-ethoxy}carbonyal)benzoic acid) (H 2 L) in CH 3 CH 2 OH, CH 3 OH, (C 2 H 5 ) 3 N and C 2 H 3 N. Their formula is identified as [Ln 2 (μ 2 -η 3 -L) 2 ·(CH 3 OH) 4 ·(η 2 -NO 3 ) 2 ]·2CH 3 OH (Ln = Eu( 1 ); Nd( 2 ); Pr( 3 ). The structures of the complexes are characterized by IR spectra, thermal gravimetry (TG), single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis as well as powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Structural analyses reveal that they are isomorphous. The thermal behaviors of complexes 1 – 3 were investigated and the complexes were found to be stable up to about 300 °C. Complex 1 exhibited luminescence emission bands at 590, 613, 685 and 697 nm at room temperature when excited at 395 nm.