Luminescent La3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+ mononuclear complexes with a Schiff base tripodal ligand derived from 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde

The N-donor tripodal ligand derived from tris(2-aminoethyl)amine and 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde (L) was employed for synthesis of three mononuclear complexes: [La(L)(hfac)3], [Eu(L)(hfac)3] and [Tb(L)(hfac)3] where hfac is the hexafluoroacetylacetonate anion. The complexes were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The Schiff base tripodal ligand behaves as tridentate ligand coordinating through the amino and two (out of the three) imino nitrogen atoms. Luminescent properties of the ligand L and the complexes were investigated in solid-state. The [Eu(L)(hfac)3] and [Tb(L)(hfac)3] complexes have shown excitation wavelength-dependent emission.