Water Stability and Luminescence of Lanthanide Complexes of Tripodal Ligands Derived from 1,4,7‐Triazacyclononane: Pyridinecarboxamide versus Pyridinecarboxylate Donors

A series of europium(III) and terbium(III) complexes of three 1,4,7‐triazacyclononane‐based pyridine containing ligands were synthesized. The three ligands differ from each other in the substitution of the pyridine pendant arm, namely they have a carboxylic acid, an ethylamide, or an ethyl ester substituent, i.e., these ligands are 6,6′,6″‐[1,4,7‐triazacyclononane‐1,4,7‐triyltris(methylene)]tris[pyridine‐2‐carboxylic acid] (H₃tpatcn), ‐tris[pyridine‐2‐carboxamide] (tpatcnam), and ‐tris[pyridine‐2‐carboxylic acid] triethyl ester (tpatcnes) respectively. The quantum yields of both the europium(III) and terbium(III) emission, upon ligand excitation, were highly dependent upon ligand substitution, with a ca. 50‐fold decrease for the carboxamide derivative in comparison to the picolinic acid (=pyridine‐2‐carboxylic acid) based ligand. Detailed analysis of the radiative rate constants and the energy of the triplet states for the three ligand systems revealed a less efficient energy transfer for the carboxamide‐based systems. The stability of the three ligand systems in H₂O was investigated. Although hydrolysis of the ethyl ester occurred in H₂O for the [Ln(tpatcnes)](OTf)₃ complexes, the tripositive [Ln(tpatcnam)](OTf)₃ complexes and the neutral [Ln(tpatcn)] complexes showed high stability in H₂O which makes them suitable for application in biological media. The [Tb(tpatcn)] complex formed easily in H₂O and was thermodynamically stable at physiological pH (pTb 14.9), whereas the [Ln(tpatcnam)](OTf)₃ complexes showed a very high kinetic stability in H₂O, and once prepared in organic solvents, remained undissociated in H₂O.