Europium(III), terbium(III), and gadolinium(III) oxamato-based coordination polymers: visible luminescence and slow magnetic relaxation

Abstract

The reaction of aqueous solutions of EuIII, TbIII, and GdIII ions with Na2Hpcpa [H3pcpa = N-(4-carboxyphenyl)oxamic acid] afforded three new isostructural oxamate-containing lanthanide(III) coordination polymers of general formula {LnIII2(Hpcpa)3(H2O)5·H2O}n [Ln = Eu (1),Tb (2), and Gd(3)]. Their structure is made up of neutral zigzag chains running parallel to the [101] direction where double syn–syn carboxylate(oxamate)-bridged dilanthanide(III) pairs (Ln1 and Ln2) are linked by three Hpcpa2– ligands, one of them with the μ–κ2O,O′:κO″ coordination mode and the other two with the μ3-κ2O,O′:κO″:κO′′′. Additionally, two of those chains are interlinked through hydrogen bonding and π–π type interactions, resulting in a porous structure with channels where water molecules are hosted. The emission properties of 1 and 2 are evaluated as a function of the temperature, exhibiting an emission in red and green, respectively. The external quantum yield for 2 is approximately 7 times that obtained for 1, indicating that the oxamate ligand is a better sensitizer for TbIII ions. The temperature dependence of the dc magnetic properties of 1–3 reveals a different magnetic behavior depending on the nature of the LnIII ion. A continuous decrease of χMT occurs for 1 upon cooling, and finally χMT tends to vanish, as expected for the thermal depopulation of the six magnetic 7FJ excited states (J = 1–6) of the EuIII ion with a nonmagnetic 7F0 ground state. χMT for 2 decreases sharply with decreasing the temperature due to the depopulation of the splitted mJ levels of the 7F7 ground state of the magnetically anisotropic TbIII ion. A very weak antiferromagnetic interaction between the magnetically isotropic GdIII ions across the double carboxylate(oxamate) bridge is responsible for the small decrease of χMT at low temperatures for 3. The dynamic (ac) magnetic properties of 2 and 3 reveal a slow magnetic relaxation with very incipient frequency-dependent χM″ signals below 6.0 K (2) and frequency-dependent χM″ peaks below 10.0 K (3) under nonzero applied dc magnetic fields, being thus new examples of field-induced single molecule magnets (SMMs).