Terbium(III) and yttrium(III) complexes with pyridine-substituted nitronyl nitroxide radical and different β-diketonate ligands. Crystal structures and magnetic and luminescence properties
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Updated: Apr 25, 2026

Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Anthony Lannes1, Mourad Intissar, Yan Suffren
1Laboratoire des Multimatériaux et Interfaces (UMR 5616), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 , Campus de la Doua, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France.
Abstract:
A terbium(III) complex of nitronyl nitroxide free radical 2-(2-pyridyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro1H-imidazolyl-1-oxy-3-oxide (NIT2Py), [Tb(acac)3NIT2Py]·0.5H2O (3) (acac = acetylacetonate), was synthesized for comparison with the previously reported [Tb(hfac)3NIT2Py]·0.5C7H16 (1) (hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate), together with their yttrium analogues [Y(hfac)3NIT2Py]·0.5C7H16 (2) and [Y(acac)3NIT2Py]·0.5H2O (4). The crystal structures show that in all complexes the nitronyl nitroxide radical acts as a chelating ligand. Magnetic studies show that 3 like 1 exhibits slow relaxation of magnetization at low temperature, suggesting single-molecule magnet behavior. The luminescence spectra show resolved vibronic structure with the main interval decreasing from 1600 cm(-1) to 1400 cm(-1) between 80 and 300 K. This effect is analyzed quantitatively using experimental Raman frequencies.
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