New Sm (III) and Nd (III) complexes: Synthesis,structural characterization and fluorescent sensing of nitro‐aromatic compounds

In this work, four new Nd (III) and Sm (III) complexes of two pentadendate ligands (L¹ and L²) were prepared and their molecular structures were determined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction studies. X‐ray analysis showed that the Nd (III) and Sm (III) complexes of L¹ sits on a twofold crystallographic axis while the complexes of L² does not show crystallographically imposed symmetry. Absorption and photoluminescence properties of the complexes were studied both in the solid state and DMF solutions. The fluorescence sensing of nitro‐aromatic compounds nitrobenzene (NB), 4‐nitrophenol (NP), 2,4‐dinitrophenol (DNP) and 2,4,6‐trinitrophenol (TNP)] were studied by photoluminescence spectroscopy. All four complexes showed better sensitivity towards nitrophenol (NP) with low LOD values.