Selective Lanthanides Sequestration Based on a Self‐Assembled Organosilica

In this paper, we investigate the cation‐exchange properties of a self‐assembled hybrid material towards trivalent ions, lanthanides (La³⁺, Eu³⁺, Gd³⁺, Yb³⁺) and Fe³⁺. The bis‐zwitterionic lamellar material was prepared by sol–gel process from only 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), succinic anhydride, and ethylenediamine. In ethanol heated under reflux, the exchange ethylenediammonium versus Ln³⁺ proved to be complete by complexometry measurements and elemental analyses, one Cl^? ion per one Ln^III remaining as expected for charge balance. In aqueous solution at 20 °C, the material was found to be selective towards lanthanide in spite of the similarity of their ionic radii. The cation uptake depends on the nature of the salt, the difference between two lanthanides reaching up to 20 % in some cases. Finally, ion‐exchange reaction with FeCl₃ was chosen as a probe to get more information on the material after incorporation of trivalent ions. Based on Mössbauer spectroscopic investigations on the resulting material in conjunction with the XRD analysis of materials containing trivalent ions, a structural model was proposed to describe the incorporation of trivalent ions by exchange reaction within the original zwitterionic material.     

A lutetium allyl complex that bears a pyridyl-functionalized cyclopentadienyl ligand: dual catalysis on highly syndiospecific and cis-1,4-selective (co)polymerizations of styrene and butadiene

A novel linked‐half‐sandwich lutetium–bis(allyl) complex [(C₅Me₄? C₅H₄N)Lu(η³‐C₃H₅)₂] ( 1 ) attached by a pyridyl‐functionalized cyclopentadienyl ligand was synthesized and fully characterized. Complex 1 in combination with [Ph₃C][B(C₆F₅)₄] exhibited unprecedented dual catalysis with outstanding activities in highly syndiotactic (rrrr>99 %) styrene polymerization and distinguished cis‐1,4‐selective (99 %) butadiene polymerization, respectively. Strikingly, this catalyst system exhibited remarkable activity (396 kg copolymer (mol_Lu h)^?1) for the copolymerization of butadiene and styrene. Irrespective of whether the monomers were fed in concurrent mode or sequential addition of butadiene followed by styrene, diblock copolymers were obtained exclusively, which was confirmed by a kinetics investigation of monomer conversion of copolymerization with time. In the copolymers, the styrene incorporation rate varied from 4.7 to 85.4 mol %, whereas the polybutadiene (PBD) block was highly cis‐1,4‐regulated (95 %) and the polystyrene segment remained purely syndiotactic (rrrr>99 %). Correspondingly, the copolymers exhibited glass transition temperatures (T_g) around ?107 °C and melting points (T_m) around 268 °C; typical values for diblock microstructures. Such copolymers cannot be accessed by any other methods known to date. X‐ray powder diffraction analysis of these diblock copolymers showed that the crystallizable syndiotactic polystyrene (syn‐PS) block was in the toluene δ clathrate form. The AFM micrographs of diblock copolymer showed a remarkable phase‐separation morphology of the cis‐1,4‐PBD block and syn‐PS block. This represents the first example of a lutetium‐based catalyst showing both high activity and selectivity for the (co)polymerization of styrene and butadiene.     

3d-4f单分子磁体

单分子磁体是指那些在磁场下能够被磁化,当磁场去除后仍能保持磁性的单个分子。由于在信息处理和储存方面具有潜在的广泛应用前景,单分子磁体日益成为化学、材料科学和物理等学科的研究热点。近年来,同时含有镧系金属离子和过渡金属离子的3d-4f单分子磁体更是引起了很多研究者的兴趣。本文阐述了3d-4f单分子磁体的优势,总结了3d-4f单分子磁体的常见合成方法及其磁性,分析了影响3d-4f单分子磁体磁性的因素。     

Oxidative Conversion of a Europium(II)‐Based T1 Agent into a Europium(III)‐Based paraCEST Agent that can be Detected In Vivo by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The Eu^II complex of 1,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane‐1,4,7,10‐tetraacetic acid (DOTA) tetra(glycinate) has a higher reduction potential than most Eu^II chelates reported to date. The reduced Eu^II form acts as an efficient water proton T₁ relaxation reagent, while the Eu^III form acts as a water‐based chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) agent. The complex has extremely fast water exchange rate. Oxidation to the corresponding Eu^III complex yields a well‐defined signal from the paraCEST agent. The time course of oxidation was studied in vitro and in vivo by T₁‐weighted and CEST imaging.     

Constructing Interfacial Energy Transfer for Photon Up‐ and Down‐Conversion from Lanthanides in a Core–Shell Nanostructure

We report a new mechanistic strategy for controlling and modifying the photon emission of lanthanides in a core–shell nanostructure by using interfacial energy transfer. By taking advantage of this mechanism with Gd³⁺ as the energy donor, we have realized efficient up‐ and down‐converted emissions from a series of lanthanide emitters (Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, Dy³⁺, and Sm³⁺) in these core–shell nanoparticles, which do not need a migratory host sublattice. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the Gd³⁺‐mediated interfacial energy transfer, in contrast to energy migration, is the leading process contributing to the photon emission of lanthanide dopants for the NaGdF₄@NaGdF₄ core–shell system. Our finding suggests a new direction for research into better control of energy transfer at the nanometer length scale, which would help to stimulate new concepts for designing and improving photon emission of the lanthanide‐based luminescent materials.     

Ultrasmall Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles with Europium(III) DO3A as a Bimodal Imaging Probe

A new prototype consisting of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticles decorated with europium(III) ions encapsulated in a DO3A organic scaffold was designed as a platform for further development of bimodal contrast agents for MRI and optical imaging. The USPIO nanoparticles act as negative MRI contrast agents, whereas the europium(III) ion is a luminophore that is suitable for use in optical imaging detection. The functionalized USPIO nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, DLS, XRD, FTIR, and TXRF analysis, and a full investigation of the relaxometric and optical properties was conducted. The typical luminescence emission of europium(III) was observed and the main red emission wavelength was found at 614 nm. The relaxometric study of these ultrasmall nanoparticles showed r₂ values of 114.8 mm ^?1_Fes^?1 at 60 MHz, which is nearly double the r₂ relaxivity of Sinerem^®.     

Relaxation Dynamics and Magnetic Anisotropy in a Low‐Symmetry DyIII Complex

The magnetic behaviour of a Dy(LH)₃ complex (LH^? is the anion of 2‐hydroxy‐N′‐[(E)‐(2‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)methylidene]benzhydrazide) was analysed in depth from both theoretical and experimental points of view. Cantilever torque magnetometry indicated that the complex has Ising‐type anisotropy, and provided two possible directions for the easy axis of anisotropy due to the presence of two magnetically non‐equivalent molecules in the crystal. Ab initio calculations confirmed the strong Ising‐type anisotropy and disentangled the two possible orientations. The computed results obtained by using ab initio calculations were then used to rationalise the composite dynamic behaviour observed for both pure Dy^III phase and Y^III diluted phase, which showed two different relaxation channels in zero and non‐zero static magnetic fields. In particular, we showed that the relaxation behaviour at the higher temperature range can be correctly reproduced by using a master matrix approach, which suggests that Orbach relaxation is occurring through a second excited doublet.     

Observation of Slow Relaxation and Single‐Molecule Toroidal Behavior in a Family of Butterfly‐Shaped Ln4 Complexes

A family of five isostructural butterfly complexes with a tetranuclear [Ln₄] core of the general formula [Ln₄(LH)₂(μ₂‐η¹η¹Piv)(η²‐Piv)(μ₃‐OH)₂]?x H₂O?y MeOH?z CHCl₃ ( 1 : Ln=Dy^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; 2 : Ln=Tb^III, x=0, y=0, z=6; 3 : Ln=Er^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; 4 : Ln=Ho^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; 5 : Ln=Yb^III, x=2, y=2, z=0; LH₄=6‐{[bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)amino]methyl}‐N′‐(2‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzylidene)picolinohydrazide; PivH=pivalic acid) was isolated and characterized both structurally and magnetically. Complexes 1 – 5 were probed by direct and alternating current (dc and ac) magnetic susceptibility measurements and, except for 1 , they did not display single‐molecule magnetism (SMM) behavior. The ac magnetic susceptibility measurements show frequency‐dependent out‐of‐phase signals with one relaxation process for complex 1 and the estimated effective energy barrier for the relaxation process was found to be 49 K. We have carried out extensive ab initio (CASSCF+RASSI‐SO+SINGLE_ANISO+POLY_ANISO) calculations on all the five complexes to gain deeper insights into the nature of magnetic anisotropy and the presence and absence of slow relaxation in these complexes. Our calculations yield three different exchange coupling for these Ln₄ complexes and all the extracted J values are found to be weakly ferro/antiferromagentic in nature (J₁=+2.35, J₂=?0.58, and J₃=?0.29 cm^?1 for 1 ; J₁=+0.45, J₂=?0.68, and J₃=?0.29 cm^?1 for 2 ; J₁=+0.03, J₂=?0.98, and J₃=?0.19 cm^?1 for 3 ; J₁=+4.15, J₂=?0.23, and J₃=?0.54 cm^?1 for 4 and J₁=+0.15, J₂=?0.28, and J₃=?1.18 cm^?1 for 5 ). Our calculations reveal the presence of very large mixed toroidal moment in complex 1 and this is essentially due to the specific exchange topology present in this cluster. Our calculations also suggest presence of single‐molecule toroics (SMTs) in complex 2 . For complexes 3 – 5 on the other hand, the transverse anisotropy was computed to be large, leading to the absence of slow relaxation of magnetization. As the magnetic field produced by SMTs decays faster than the normal spin moments, the concept of SMTs can be exploited to build qubits in which less interference and dense packing are possible. Our systematic study on these series of Ln₄ complexes suggest how the ligand design can help to bring forth such SMT characteristics in lanthanide complexes.