Synthesis and crystal structures of quadruply carboxylate-bridged dimeric lanthanide(III) complexes of betaine

Three dimeric lanthanide(III) complexes, [Eu₂(bet)₈(H₂O)₄](CIO₄)₆(1), [Tb₂(bet)₈(H₂O)₄](ClO₄)₆(2), and [Eu₂(bet)₄(H₂O)₈] Cl₆·6H₂O (3) (bet = Me₃N⁺CH₂COO^–, trimethyl-aminoacetate), have been prepared and structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. Complex 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c, with a = 11.7807(8), b = 27.757(5), c = 11.7980(8) Å, = 99.500(4)°, V = 3805.1(8) ų, and Z = 2. Complex 2 is isomorphous to complex 1, crystallizing in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c, with a = 11.7769(14), b = 27.725(3), c = 11.795(5) Å, = 99.668(14)°, V = 3797(2) ų, and Z = 2. Complex 3 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pbca, with a = 12.5664(8), b = 17.8645(9), c = 22.2573(8) Å, V = 4996.6(4) ų and Z = 4. Both complexes 1 and 2 comprise quadruply carboxylate-O,O-bridged [M₂(bet)₄]⁶⁺ dimeric cores (M = Eu, Tb), and each metal ion is further coordinated by two terminal aqua ligands and two monodentate bet carboxylates to form a distorted square-antiprismatic coordination geometry. Complex 3 also has a [Eu₂(bet)₄]⁶⁺ core, in which two bet ligands act in the ¹:¹:₂ bridging fashion, and the other two bet ligands in the less common ²:¹:₂ bridging fashion, namely bridging-chelate mode. Each europium(III) ion in complex 3 is further coordinated by four water molecules to complete a monocapped square antiprism.