Enantioselective aggregation and luminescence properties of europium(III) and terbium(III) complexes of an acetate and a tripodal ligand containing three imidazole groups

The aggregation and luminescence properties of three pairs of EuIII (1–3) and isomorphous TbIII (4–6) complexes, [LnIII(H3LR)(Ac)](ClO4)2, were studied, Each EuIII or TbIII ion is coordinated by a tripodal and an acetate ligand, resulting in Δ- and Λ-enantiomorphs. Intermolecular imidazole⋯acetate hydrogen bonding gives rise to three types of enantioselective assemblies; homochiral 1D chains comprising an undulating double layer that crystallizes into a conglomerate, homochiral, single-layer, 1D chains, and heterochiral dimers. The solid-state emission spectra display sharp f–f bands. Quantum yields (Ф) of 0.21, 0.24, 0.24, 0.088, 0.10, and 0.043 were obtained for 1–6, respectively, under 310nm excitation.