Lanthanide(III)/pyrimidine-4,6-dicarboxylate/oxalate extended frameworks: a detailed study based on the lanthanide contraction and temperature effects

Detailed structural, magnetic, and luminescence studies of six different crystalline phases obtained in the lanthanide/pyrimidine-4,6-dicarboxylate/oxalate system have been afforded: {Ln(μ-pmdc)(μ-ox)(0.5)(H(2)O)(2)]·3H(2)O}(n) (1-Ln), {Ln(μ-pmdc)(μ-ox)(0.5)(H(2)O)(3)]·2H(2)O}(n) (2-Ln), {Ln(μ(3)-pmdc)(μ-ox)(0.5)(H(2)O)(2)]·~2.33H(2)O}(n) (3-Ln), {Ln(2)(μ(3)-pmdc)(μ(4)-pmdc)(μ-ox)(H(2)O)(3)]·5H(2)O}(n) (4-Ln), {Ln(μ(3)-pmdc)(μ-ox)(0.5)(H(2)O)(2)]·H(2)O}(n) (5-Ln), and Ln(pmdc)(1.5)(H(2)O)(2.5)] (6-Ln). The slow generation of the oxalate (ox) anion, obtained from the in situ partial hydrothermal decomposition of the pyrimidine-4,6-dicarboxylate (pmdc) ligand, allows us to obtain good shaped single crystals, while direct addition of potassium oxalate provides the same compounds but as polycrystalline samples. The crystal structures of all compounds are based on the double chelation established by the pmdc and ox ligands to provide distorted 2D honeycomb layers that, in some cases, are fused together, leading to 3D systems, by replacing some of the coordinated water molecules that complete the coordination sphere of the lanthanide by uncoordinated carboxylate oxygen atoms of the pmdc. The presence of channels occupied by crystallization water molecules is also a common feature with the exception of compounds 5-Ln. It is worth noting that compounds 3-Ln present a commensurate crystal structure related to the partial occupancy of the crystallization water molecules placed within the channels. Topological analyses have been carried out, showing a previously nonregistered topology for compounds 4-Ln, named as jcr1. The crystal structures are strongly dependent on the lanthanide ion size and the temperature employed during the hydrothermal synthesis. The lanthanide contraction favors crystal structures involving sterically less hindranced coordination environments for the final members of the lanthanide series. Additionally, reinforcement of the entropic effects at high temperatures directs the crystallization process toward less hydrated crystal structures. The magnetic data of these compounds indicate that the exchange coupling between the lanthanide atoms is almost negligible, so the magnetic behavior is dominated by the spin-orbit coupling and the ligand field perturbation. The luminescence properties that exhibit the compounds containing Nd(III), Eu(III), and Tb(III) have been also characterized.