Synthesis and fluorescence properties of lanthanide (III) perchlorate complexes with bis(benzoylmethyl) sulfoxide

A ligand with two carbonyl groups and one sulfinyl group has been synthesized by a new method and its several lanthanide (III) complexes were synthesized and characterized by element analysis, molar conductivity, coordination titration analysis, IR, TG-DSC, 1H NMR and UV spectra. The results indicated that the composition of these complexes is REL5(ClO4)(3).3H2O (RE=La(III), Pr(III), Eu(III), Tb(III), Yb(III), L=C6H5COCH2SOCH2COC6H5). The fluorescent spectra illustrate that both the Tb (III) and Eu (III) complexes display characteristic metal-centered fluorescence in solid state, indicating the ligand favors energy transfer to the excitation state energy level of them. However, the Tb (III) complex displays more effective luminescence than the Eu (III) complex, which is attributed to especial effectively in transferring energy from the average triplet energy level of the ligands (T) onto the excited state (5D4) of Tb (III) than that (5D0) of Eu (III), showing a good antenna effect for Tb(III) luminescence. The phosphorescence spectra and the relationship between fluorescence lifetimes and fluorescence intensities were also discussed.