Bis[3-(anthracen-9-yl)pentane-2,4-dionato-κ2 O,O'](N,N-di-methyl-formamide-κO)[tris-(pyrazol-1-yl-κN 2)hydroborato]europium(III).

The title compound, [Eu(C9H10BN6)(C19H15O2)2(C3H7NO)] or [TpEu(Anthracac)2(DMF)], was synthesized by reaction of a tris-(pyrazol-yl)borate (Tp-) Eu3+ complex with 3-(anthracen-9-yl)pentane-2,4-dione (HAnthracac) in the presence of tri-ethyl-amine. In the title compound, Eu3+ is located in an octa-vertex square-pyramidal coordination environment. In the two Anthracac- ligands, the anthracene and nearly planar acetyl-acetonate fragments are almost orthogonal. Neighboring mol-ecules of TpEu(Anthracac)2(DMF) are connected in the crystal by inter-molecular van der Waals inter-actions, while π-stacking inter-actions are limited to the edges of two anthracene rings.

Combination of single-molecule magnet behaviour and luminescence properties in a new series of lanthanide complexes with tris(pyrazolyl)borate and oligo(ß-diketonate) ligands.

A series of tris(pyrazolyl)borate mono-, di- and trinuclear complexes, [Tp2Ln]nX (Ln = Eu, Tb, Gd, Dy, Xn- = various mono-, bis- and tris(ß-diketonates) has been prepared. The Tb3+ and Dy3+ complexes are luminescent single molecular magnets (SMM) and exhibit luminescence quantum efficiencies up to 73% for the Tb3+ and 4.4% for the Dy3+ compounds. Similar Eu3+ complexes display bright emission only at lower temperatures. The Dy3+ and Tb3+ complexes possess SMM behavior in a non-zero dc field at low temperatures, while the polynuclear Dy3+ complexes also show slow magnetic relaxation even in zero dc field up to 8 K. Ueff-values determined from dynamic magnetic measurements were up to 31 and 6 cm-1 for the Dy3+ and Tb3+ complexes, respectively. It was found that within a series of Dy3+ and Tb3+ compounds, Ueff and luminescence quantum yields decreased with increasing nuclearity of the compounds and a shortening of the intramolecular Ln-Ln distance. ΔOrbach-values estimated from low-temperature luminescence spectra were significantly higher than those obtained from ac magnetic data, which may be due to involvement of additional processes in the relaxation mechanism (quantum tunneling, Raman, direct) reducing the energy barrier. Some of the Tb3+-compounds also display metal-centred electroluminescence, giving them potential as emitting layers in LEDs.

Absorption- and Excitation-Modulated Luminescence of Pr3+, Nd3+, and Lu3+ Compounds with Dianions of Tetrafluoroterephthalic and Camphoric Acids.

The luminescence of coordination polymers of Pr3+, Nd3+, and Lu3+ with tetrafluoroterephthalate and camphorate, [Ln2(Fbdc)3(DMF)2(H2O)]2 (Ln = Pr, Nd, Lu) and [Ln2(Camph)2(NO3)2(MeOH)]4 (Ln = Pr, Nd, Lu), was studied. Ligand-centered and/or metal-centered emissions appear, which depend on the excitation wavelength, ultimately allowing the emitted light color to be adjusted. Low-efficiency ligand-to-metal energy transfer leads to a difference between the excitation spectra of the tetrafluoroterephthalate- and camphorate-Pr3+ compounds, arising from a primary filtering effect on the ligand-centered excitation, by Pr3+ absorption. A secondary inner filter effect significantly changes the shape of the luminescence band, allowing a wide variation in the emission color, producing, for instance, a purple color, which is not the normal spectral emission. The low-efficiency energy transfer renders tetrafluoroterephthalate and camphorate ineffective as traditional "antenna" ligands for Pr3+ and Nd3+.

Detailed electronic structure of a high-spin cobalt(ii) complex determined from NMR and THz-EPR spectroscopy.

Here we report a combined use of THz-EPR and NMR spectroscopy for obtaining a detailed electronic structure of a long-known high-spin complex, cobalt(ii) bis[tris(pyrazolyl)borate]. The lowest inter-Kramers transition was directly measured by THz-EPR spectroscopy, while the energies of higher Kramers doublets were estimated by a recently proposed NMR-based approach. Together, they produced magnetic parameters for a full model that explicitly includes spin-orbit coupling. This approach is applicable to all transition metal ions for which the spin-orbit coupling cannot be treated perturbatively.

Crystal structures and intense luminescence of tris(3-(2'-pyridyl)-pyrazolyl)borate Tb3+ and Eu3+ complexes with carboxylate co-ligands.

A series of brightly luminescent new mononuclear TpPyLn(An)2(H2O) (where An- = carboxylate anion, Ln = Eu or Tb and TpPy- = tris(3-(2'-pyridyl)pyrazolyl)borate) and dinuclear (TpPyLn)2pma(MeOH)2 (Ln = Eu, Tb, pma4- = tetraanion of pyromellitic acid) complexes were prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography. Within each series the compounds possess similar molecular structures, which differ only by the nature of the carboxylate anions. The quantum efficiencies for metal-centered emission of the complexes were up to 29(3)% for Eu3+ and 53(5)% for the Tb3+ compounds and significantly depend on the electronic structure of the additional ligand (i.e. the carboxylate). The aliphatic carboxylate compounds' luminescence quantum yields were all similar, but different from those for the aromatic ones. The complexes with trifluoroacetate and pentafluorobenzoate unexpectedly displayed lower quantum efficiencies compared to those with the corresponding non-fluorinated analogues. Energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+ occurs in a mixture of (TpPyEu)(pma)(TbTpPy)(MeOH)2, (TpPyEu)2(pma)(MeOH)2 and (TpPyTb)2(pma)(MeOH)2 but is not very efficient. The Tb3+-compounds displayed green electroluminescence, and both the Eu3+ and Tb3+ complexes exhibited bright metal-centered red (Eu3+) or green (Tb3+) triboluminescence.

New homodinuclear tris(3-alkylpyrazolyl)borate complexes of CoII and NiII with a tetraacetylethane dianion as a bridging ligand.

Polynuclear complexes and coordination polymers of 3d metals have attracted significant interest evoked by a number of their unique properties. One of the most common approaches to the directed synthesis of coordination polymers is the linking of pre-prepared discrete coordination units by polydentate ligands. The formation of polynuclear complexes is usually a spontaneous process and precise prediction of the products of such reactions is virtually impossible in most cases. Tris(pyrazolyl)borates (Tp) act as tripodal `capping' ligands which form stable complexes with 3d metal ions. In such 1:1 compounds, three metal-ion coordination sites are occupied by N atoms from a Tp anion. This limits the number of remaining coordination sites, and thus the number of additional ligands which may coordinate, and opens an attractive approach for the directed design of desirable structures by exploiting ligands with appropriate composition and topology. In the present study, Tp anions with neopentyl [TpNp, tris(3-neopentylpyrazolyl)borate] and cyclohexyl [TpCy, tris(3-cyclohexylpyrazolyl)borate] substituents were used as `capping' ligands and the dianion of tetraacetylethane (3,4-diacetylhexa-2,4-diene-2,5-diolate, tae2-) was employed as a bridge. The dinuclear complexes (µ-3,4-diacetylhexa-2,4-diene-2,5-diolato-κ4O2,O3:O4,O5)bis{[tris(3-cyclohexyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN2)borato]cobalt(II)} acetonitrile disolvate, [Co2(C27H40BN6)2(C10H12O4)]·2CH3CN, (I)·2CH3CN, and (µ-3,4-diacetylhexa-2,4-diene-2,5-diolato-κ4O2,O3:O4,O5)bis{[tris(3-neopentyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl-κN2)borato]nickel(II)}, [Ni2(C24H40BN6)2(C10H12O4)], (II), were synthesized by the reaction of the mononuclear complexes TpCyCoCl or TpNpNiCl with H2tae (3,4-diacetylhexane-2,5-dione or tetraacetylethane) in the presence of NEt3 as base. Compounds (I) and (II) were characterized by mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. They possess similar molecular structures, X-ray diffraction revealing them to be dinuclear in nature and composed of discrete Tp-M units in which two metal ions are linked by a tae2- dianion. Each metal ion possesses a five-coordinate square-pyramidal environment. The interplanar angles between the acetylacetonate fragments are significantly smaller than the near-90° values commonly observed.

Manifestation of π-π stacking interactions in luminescence properties and energy transfer in aromatically-derived Tb, Eu and Gd tris(pyrazolyl)borate complexes.

The three new complexes Tp(Py)Ln(CH3CO2)2(H2O) (Ln = Eu (1), Gd(2), or Tb (3)) were prepared and characterized crystallographically. In the crystal lattices of these complexes, separate molecules are connected in infinite chains by π-stacking interactions. Complexes 1 and 3 display intense photoluminescence and triboluminescence (red and green respectively), while compound 3 exhibits electroluminescence commencing at 9 V in an ITO/PVK/3/Al device (ITO = indium-tin oxide, PVK = poly(N-vinylcarbazole)). A series of Eu/Tb-doped Gd compounds was prepared by cocrystallization from mixtures of 1 and 2 or 2 and 3, respectively. It was shown that π-stacking interactions are involved in increasing the efficiency of energy transfer from the gadolinium complex to emitting [Tp(Py)Eu](2+) or [Tp(Py)Tb](2+) centers, and this energy transfer occurs through hundreds of molecules, resembling the process of energy harvesting in chloroplast stacks.

The role of the bridging group in exchange coupling in dinuclear homo- and heterometallic Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes with oxalate, oxamidate and dithiooxamidate bridges.

Six homodinuclear and two heteronuclear complexes Tp(Np)Co-C(2)O(4)-CoTp(Np) (1), Tp(Np)Co-C(2)O(4)-NiTp(Cy) (2), Tp(Cy)Ni-C(2)O(4)-NiTp(Cy) (3), Tp(Np)Co-C(2)O(2)(NH)(2)-CoTp(Np) (4), Tp(Cy)Ni-C(2)O(2)(NH)(2)-NiTp(Cy) (5), Tp(Np)Co-C(2)S(2)(NH)(2)-CoTp(Np) (6), Tp(Np)Co-C(2)S(2)(NH)(2)-NiTp(Cy) (7), Tp(Cy)Ni-C(2)S(2)(NH)(2)-NiTp(Cy) (8) (Tp(Np) = tris(3-neopentylpyrazolyl)borate, Tp(Cy) = tris(3-cyclohexylpyrazolyl)borate), were synthesized and characterized by mass spectrometry, electronic spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. These compounds possess similar molecular structures, with the metal ions linked by bridging oxalate (1-3), oxamidate (4 and 5) or dithiooxamidate (6-8) ions. The heteronuclear nature of compounds 2 and 7 was additionally confirmed by high-resolution mass spectrometry. The magnetic properties of the Co(2+) complexes were modelled taking into account zero-field splitting of this ion, yielding D-values for Co(2+) in the range -17(1) to -50(1) cm(-1). All the metal ion pairs in compounds 1-8 are antiferromagnetically-coupled, with J values between -10.0(1) and -45.0(2) cm(-1) (via the exchange Hamiltonian H(ex.) = -2JS(1)S(2)) and |J| increasing in the order oxalate < oxamidate < dithiooxamidate. This tendency can be attributed to greater M-S bond covalency compared to M-N or M-O bonds (M = Co(2+) and Ni(2+)). It was found that this antiferromagnetic coupling of Co(2+) and Ni(2+) ions through oxalate is more efficient for these tris(pyrazolyl)borate complexes than for similar oxalate-bridged systems with neutral aliphatic amine ligands.

A new efficient iron catalyst for olefin epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide.

A new aminopyridine ligand derived from bipiperidine (the product of full reduction of bipyridine, bipy) coordinates to iron(II) in a cis-α fashion, yielding a new selective catalyst for olefin epoxidation with H(2)O(2) under limiting substrate conditions.

Synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of Nd3+ and Pr3+ 2D polymers with tetrafluoro-p-phthalate.

Two lanthanide tetrafluoro-p-phthalate (L(2-)) complexes, Ln(L)(1.5)·DMF·H(2)O (Ln = Pr(3+) (1), Nd(3+) (2)), were synthesized using pyridine as a base. The compounds were found to be isostructural, and the structure of 1 has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction (monoclinic, space group C2, a = 22.194(2) Å, b = 11.4347(12) Å, c = 11.7160(12) Å, ß = 94.703(2)°, V = 2963.3(5) Å(3), Z = 4). The crystal structure of 1 consists of dinuclear Pr(3+) units, which are connected by tetrafluoro-p-phthalate, forming separate 2D polymeric layers. The Ln(3+) ions in the dinuclear Ln(2) units are linked by two µ-O atoms and by two bridging O-C-O groups. The structure is porous with DMF and water molecules located between layers. Non-coordinated DMF molecules occupy about 27% of the unit cell volume. A systematic analysis of reported structures of Ln(III) polymers with p-phthalate and its derivatives shows that the ca. known 60 structures can be divided into six possible structural types depending on the presence of certain structural motifs. The magnetic properties of compounds 1 and 2 were studied. The dependence of χ(M)T on T (where χ(M) is magnetic susceptibility per dinuclear lanthanide unit) for 1 and 2 was simulated using two different models, based on: (i) the Hamiltonian H = ΔJ(z)(2)+ µ(B)g(J)HJ, which utilises an axial splitting parameter Δ and temperature-independent paramagnetism (tip) and (ii) crystal field splitting. It was found that both models gave satisfactory fits, indicating that the Ln-Ln exchange interactions are small and the symmetry of the coordination environment is the main factor influencing the magnetic properties of these compounds.

Carbonate formation within a nickel dimer: synthesis of a coordinatively unsaturated bis(mu-hydroxo) dinickel complex and its reactivity toward carbon dioxide.

The tridentate aminopyridine ligand bearing a bulky tert-butyl substituent at the amine nitrogen, tert-butyl-dipicolylamine (tBuDPA), occupies three coordination sites in six-coordinate complexes of nickel(ii), leaving the remaining three sites available for additional ligand binding and activation. New crystallographically characterized complexes include two mononuclear species with 1:1 metal:ligand complexation: a trihydrate solvate (1.3H(2)O) and a monohydrate biacetonitrile solvate (1.H(2)O.2CH(3)CN). Complexation in the presence of sodium hydroxide results in a bis(mu-hydroxo) complex (2), the bridging hydroxide anions of which are labile and become displaced by methoxide anions in methanol solvent, affording bis-methoxo-bridged (4). Nickel(II) centers in 2 are five-coordinate and antiferromagnetically coupled (with J = -31.4(5) cm(-1), H = -2JS(1)S(2), in agreement with Ni-O-Ni angle of 103.7 degrees). Bridging hydroxide or alkoxide anions in coordinatively unsaturated dinuclear nickel(II) complexes with tBuDPA react as active nucleophiles. 2 readily performs carbon dioxide fixation, resulting in the formation of a bis(mu-carbonato) tetrameric complex (3), which features a novel binding geometry in the form of an inverted butterfly-type nickel-carbonate core. Temperature-dependent magnetic measurements of tetranuclear carbonato-bridged revealed relatively weak antiferromagnetic coupling (J(1) = -3.1(2) cm(-1)) between the two nickel centers in the core of the cluster, as well as weak antiferromagnetic pairwise interactions (J(2) = J(3) = -4.54(5) cm(-1)) between central and terminal nickel ions.