Lanthanide-to-lanthanide energy-transfer processes operating in discrete polynuclear complexes: can trivalent...

This work, based on the synthesis and analysis of chemical compounds, describes a kinetic approach for identifying intramolecular intermetallic energy-transfer processes operating in discrete polynuclear lanthanide complexes, with a special emphasis on europium-containing entities. When all coordination sites are identical in a (supra)molecular complex, only heterometallic communications are experimentally accessible and a Tb → Eu energy transfer could be evidenced in [TbEu(L5)(hfac)6] (hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate), in which the intermetallic separation amounts to 12.6 Å. In the presence of different coordination sites, as found in the trinuclear complex [Eu3(L2)(hfac)9], homometallic communication can be induced by selective laser excitation and monitored with the help of high-resolution emission spectroscopy. The narrow and non-degenerated character of the Eu((5)D0 ↔ (7)F0) transition excludes significant spectral overlap between donor and acceptor europium cations. Intramolecular energy-transfer processes in discrete polynuclear europium complexes are therefore limited to short distances, in agreement with the Fermi golden rule and with the kinetic data collected for [Eu3(L2)(hfac)9] in the solid state and in solution. Consequently, trivalent europium can be considered as a valuable local structural probe in discrete polynuclear complexes displaying intermetallic separation in the sub-nanometric domain, a useful property for probing lanthanido-polymers.