Homo- and heterometallic coordination polymers from the f elements

Lanthanide and actinide based coordination polymers and metal–organic framework materials present a number of interesting opportunities with respect to their syntheses and properties. Ln elements typically display large coordination numbers and roughly spherical bonding environments whereas An elements (specifically U(VI)) tend to form triatomic species with terminal oxo groups. As such, these features may be perceived by some as obstacles to the development of designed architectures of f-metal containing hybrid materials. We argue that these features, when coupled to the luminescent behavior of these elements actually give rise to a diverse family of compounds with a range of interesting topologies. Presented herein is an overview of the structural features and luminescent behavior of these materials, as well as some synthetic strategies toward producing both homo- and heterometallic compounds.