Rare earth complexes with a novel ligand N-(naphthalen-2-yl)-N-phenyl-2-(quinolin-8-yloxy)acetamide: Preparation and spectroscopic studies

Six complexes of rare earth nitrates (Ln = La, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy) with a new amide type ligand, N-(naphthalen-2-yl)-N-phenyl-2-(quinolin-8-yloxy)acetamide (L) have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity measurements, IR and and 1H NMR spectra. Under excitation, Eu(III) and Sm(III) complexes exhibited strong red emissions. And the luminescence intensity of Sm(III) complex is higher than that of Eu(III) complex. Thus the Eu(III) and Sm(III) complexes are the potential light conversion agent. However, the Tb(III) and Dy(III) complexes cannot exhibit characteristic emissions of terbium and dysprosium ions, respectively. The results of phosphorescence spectrum show that the triplet-state energy level of the ligand matches better to the resonance level of Eu(III) than Tb(III) ion. In addition, the luminescence of the Eu(III) complex is also relatively strong in highly diluted tetrahydrofuran solution (2 × 10−4 mol/L) compared with the powder. This is not only due to the solvate effects but also to the changes of the structure of the Eu(III) complex after being dissolved into the solvents. Furthermore, owing to the co-luminescence effect, the proper La(III) or Gd(III) doped Eu(III) complexes show stronger luminescence than the pure Eu(III) complex.