Near IR luminescent rare earth 3,4,5,6-tetrafluoro-2-nitrophenoxide complexes: Synthesis, X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy

Tetrafluoro-2-nitrophenoxide coordinates to rare earth ions and provides a visible (orange-yellow) chromophore; IR emission from its Er(III) and Yb(III) complexes shows long lifetimes because of the lack of C-H and O-H bonds that could cause vibrational quenching.