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New J. Chem., 2009, 33, 2326 - 2334, DOI: 10.1039/b9nj00228f

Hetero-trinuclear near-infrared (NIR) luminescent Zn2Ln complexes from Salen-type Schiff-base ligands

Weiyu Bi, Tao Wei, Xingqiang Lü, Yani Hui, Jirong Song, Shunsheng Zhao, Wai-Kwok Wong and Richard A. Jones

With the Zn–Schiff-base [ZnL1(Py)] or [ZnL2(Py)] from the simple Salen-type Schiff-base ligand H2L1 or H2L2 ( H2L1: N,N-bis(salicylidene)ethylene-1,2-diamine; H2L2: N,N-bis(salicylidene)phenylene-1,2-diamine) without the outer O2O2 portion as the precursor, two series of eight trinuclear Zn2Ln arrayed complexes (Ln = Nd ( 1 or 5), Yb ( 2 or 6), Er ( 3 or 7) or Gd ( 4 or 8)) have been obtained by the further reaction with Ln(NO3)3·6H2O, respectively. The results of photophysical studies show that the strong and characteristic NIR luminescence with emissive lifetimes in microsecond ranges, has been sensitized from the excited state (1LC and 3LC or only 1LC) of the ligand, whereas the Zn(II)-based visible luminescence is mostly quenched because of quite effective intramolecular energy transfer from the ligand-centered excited state of the Zn(II)–Schiff base complex to Ln(III) ions.

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