Syntheses, structures, photoluminescence, and magnetism of a series of discrete heavy lanthanide complexes based on a tricarboxylic acid

•Seven discrete heavy lanthanide tricarboxylate complexes are obtained.•The corresponding TbIII, DyIII, and YbIII complexes exhibit characteristic photoluminescent properties.•The corresponding DyIII complex shows a field-induced slow magnetic relaxation behavior.

Seven heavy lanthanide tricarboxylate complexes, [Ln2(TCT)2(H2O)6]·6H2O [Ln = Tb (1), Dy (2), Ho (3), Er (4), Tm (5), Yb (6), and Lu (7), H3TCT = 2,4,6-tri(carboxymethylmercapto)-1,3,5-triazine acid], were successfully synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential thermoanalysis (DTA). Complexes 1–7 possess a discrete dinuclear structure. The adjacent dinuclear molecules are extended into a three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular architecture by the hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions. Complexes 1 and 2 show the characteristic fluorescent emissions of TbIII and DyIII, respectively, and complex 6 displays a near-infrared (NIR) emission of YbIII. Complex 2 also exhibits a field-induced slow magnetic relaxation behavior.

Graphical abstractSeven discrete heavy lanthanide tricarboxylate complexes were synthesized. The corresponding TbIII, DyIII, and YbIII complexes exhibit characteristic photoluminescent properties. The corresponding DyIII complex shows a field-induced slow magnetic relaxation behavior.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide