Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals
Published on: April 14, 2020
Circularly Polarized Luminescence in Chiral Potassium Europium Nitrate
Yusuke Inomata1, Tetsuya Kida2
1Faculty of Advanced Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.
None:
Emissive chiral compounds exhibit circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), characterized by the emission intensity of right- and left-circularly polarized light. Unlike chiral organic molecules, inorganic compounds that emit CPL have rarely been reported because of the challenges in controlling the symmetry of inorganic crystals. In this study, we present an all-inorganic crystal with CPL. Single crystals of both enantiomorphs of double nitrate of europium, K3[Eu2(NO3)9], are obtained through spontaneous resolution. The optical rotation is directly confirmed by polarized microscopy. K3[Eu2(NO3)9] possesses an enantiomorphic crystal structure in which europium ions are surrounded by a dissymmetric environment. This compound exhibits sharp red CPL with a high photoluminescence quantum yield, originating from its chiral crystal structure. The arrangement of ions in inorganic crystals induces chiroptical properties, such as CPL.
Related Concept Videos
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
Photoluminescence: Applications
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
Photoluminescence: Fluorescence and Phosphorescence
A pair of electrons in a...
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

