Cation sensing by luminescent high-nuclearity Zn-Eu Schiff base nanoscale complexes: high sensitivity to Ag and Cd ions at the ppm level

• Published in: Dalton transactions : an international journal of inorganic chemistry Vol. 48; no. 6; pp. 226 - 2212
• Main Authors: Jiang, Dongmei, Yang, Xiaoping, Chen, Hongfen, Wang, Fei, Wang, Shiqing, Zhu, Ting, Zhang, Lijie, Huang, Shaoming
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 05.02.2019
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/c8dt04942d

Three polynuclear Zn-Ln nanoscale complexes [Ln 2 Zn 2 (L 1 ) 2 (OAc) 6 ] (Ln = Eu ( 1 ) and Nd ( 2 )) and [Eu 6 Zn 6 (L 2 ) 2 (L 3 ) 2 O 2 (OAc) 18 ] ( 3 ) were constructed using two Schiff base ligands featuring Ph(CH 2 )Ph (H 2 L 1 ) and naphthyl (H 2 L 2 ) backbones. The use of the Schiff base ligand H 2 L 1 leads to the formation of linear complexes 1 and 2 with molecular sizes of approximately 7 × 10 × 24 Å, while planar complex 3 (approximately 10 × 15 × 22 Å) is constructed from H 2 L 2 . In 1-3 , the chromogenic Zn/ligand moieties can absorb energy from and transfer energy to lanthanide centers, and all of these complexes display the typical emissions of Ln 3+ ions. Interestingly, 3 displays luminescence response to the addition of metal ions and has high sensitivity to Ag + and Cd 2+ ions at the ppm level. Two types of Zn-Ln nanoscale complexes were constructed using Schiff base ligands, and the 12-metal Zn-Eu complex shows interesting luminescent sensing of metal cations.