Lanthanide complexes with the Schiff base containing sterically hindered phenol: Synthesis,structure, and luminescence properties

The syntheses of the 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-(2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)phenolate (L) complexes of Gd (I), Nd (II), Er (III), Yb (IV), Tm (V), Sm (VI), and Tb (VII) are described. The structures of the Gd and Er complexes are determined by X-ray diffraction analysis (CIF files CCDC nos. 1558820 (I) and 1558819 (III)). All synthesized compounds exhibit ligand-centered photoluminescence in a range of 405–485 nm. In addition, the luminescence spectra of solid samples of the neodymium and ytterbium complexes contain narrow bands of f–f transitions characteristic of Nd³⁺ and Yb³⁺ ions.