Four novel lanthanide complexes with 4‐ethylbenzoic acid and 5,5′‐dimethy‐2,2′‐bipyridine: Structures,luminescent, thermal properties and bacteriostatic activities

Four new lanthanide complexes Ln(4‐EBA)₃(5,5′‐DM‐2,2′‐bipy)]₂·2C₂H₅OH (Ln = Ho ( 1 ), Tb ( 2 ), Er ( 3 )); Ln(4‐EBA)₃(4‐EBAH)(5,5′‐DM‐2,2′‐bipy)]₂ (Ln = Eu( 4 ); 4‐EBA =4‐ethylbenzoate; 5,5′‐DM‐2,2′‐bipy =5,5′‐dimethy‐2,2′‐bipyridine; 4‐EBAH = 4‐ethylbenzoic acid) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and IR spectra. The single crystal results reveal that complexes 1 – 3 are isostructural. It is worth noting that the mole ratios of the carboxylate ligands and neutral ligands is 4:1 in complex 4 , which is different from the former and has been rarely reported. Nevertheless, all complexes are connected to form 1D chain by π ···π wake staking interactions. Additionally, the complexes 2 (Tb(III)) and 4 (Eu(III)) exhibit characteristic luminescent properties, indicating that ligands can be used as sensitizing chromophore in these systems. The thermal decomposition mechanism of the complexes has been investigated by TG/DSC–FTIR technology. Stacked plots of the FTIR spectra of the evolved gases show complexes broken down into H₂O, CO₂, and other gaseous molecules as well as the gaseous organic fragments. The studies on bacteriostatic activities of complexes show that four complexes have good bacteriostatic activities against Candida albicans but no bacteriostatic activity on Escherichia coli , and Staphylococcus aureus . Additionally, the complexes 1 to 3 have better bacteriostatic activities on Candida albicans than complex 4 .