Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Syntheses, structures, and photoluminescence of 1-D lanthanide coordination polymers
Xiaoping Yang1, Richard A Jones, Joseph H Rivers
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, A5300, Austin, TX 78712-0165, USA.
Abstract:
Five new lanthanide 1-D coordination polymers are reported which are formed from flexible salen type Schiff-base ligands H(2)L and H(2)L' (H(2)L = N,N(1)-ethylene bis(salicylideneimine); H(2)L' = N,N(1)-bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)ethylene-1,2-diamine). The polymeric structures are formed by bridging neutral H(2)L units in the case of {[Ln(2)L(2)(CF(3)SO(3))(H(2)L)(4)(MeOH)] x CF(3)SO(3)}(n) (Ln = Eu (1), Nd (2) and Er (3)), and by acetate (OAc(-)) groups in [Yb(2)(L)(2)(OAc)(2)(MeOH)(2)](n) (4) and {[Tb(3)(L')(2)(OAc)(5)] x Et(2)O x (MeOH)(0.5)}(n) (5). The structures of 1-5 were determined by single crystal X-ray crystallographic studies and the luminescence properties of 1 and 5 in MeOH solution were determined.
Related Concept Videos
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
Valence Bond Theory
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Photoluminescence: Fluorescence and Phosphorescence
A pair of electrons in a...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Structural Isomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula. Structural isomerism of coordination compounds can be divided into two subcategories, the linkage isomers and coordination-sphere isomers.
Linkage isomers occur when the coordination compound contains a ligand that can bind to the transition metal center through two different atoms. For example, the CN− ligand can bind through the carbon atom or through the nitrogen atom. Similarly, SCN− can be...
