Quenching of electronically excited Ln3+* ions by C60 fullerene

Quenching of electronically excited states of Ln^3+* ions generated upon photoexcitation of toluene solutions of Ln(acac)₃·H₂O (Ln = Tb, Eu) complexes by C₆₀ fullerene at 293 K was detected and investigated. The dependences of quenching efficiency on C₆₀ concentration obtained from data on the decrease in the photoluminescence intensity and Ln^3+* lifetimes obey the Stern-Volmer law. Quenching is due to inductive-resonant energy transfer from Ln^3+* to C₆₀ fullerene. The bimolecular rate constants for quenching, the overlap integrals of the Ln^3+* photoluminescence spectra with the C₆₀ absorption spectra, and the critical energy transfer distances were determined. No sensitized luminescence of C₆₀ in the system studied was detected. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 921–925, June, 2006.