Synthesis, crystal structures, and luminescent properties of two types of lanthanide phosphonates

Hydrothermal reactions of different lanthanide(III) salts with an amino-diphosphonate ligand (H₄L=C₆H₅CH₂N(CH₂PO₃H₂)₂) led to two series of lanthanide phosphonates, namely, Ln(H₂L)(H₃L) (Ln=La, 1; Pr, 2; Nd, 3; Sm, 4; Eu, 5; Gd, 6; Tb, 7). Compounds 1-5 feature a one-dimensional (1D) chain structure in which dimers of two edge-sharing LnO₈ polyhedra are interconnected by bridging phosphonate groups, such 1D arrays are further interlinked via strong hydrogen bonds between non-coordinated phosphonate oxygen atoms into a two-dimensional (2D) layer with the phenyl groups of the ligands orientated toward the interlayer space. Compounds 6 and 7 also show a different 1D array in which the LnO₆ octahedra are bridged by phosphonate groups via corner-sharing, such chains are also further interlinked by hydrogen bonds into a 2D supramolecular layer. Compounds 5 and 7 emit red and green light with a lifetime of 2.1 and 3.7 ms, respectively.