Abstract. The general features of two series of sol-gel derived materials, designated urethanesils (Ut), have been investigated by infrared and Raman spectroscopies with the goal of elucidating the chemical environment of the Eu3+ cations.The host frameworks of the two families of onnolytes studied have been represented by mUt(350) and d-Ut(300), where m stands for mono, d stands for di, 350 and 300 are the average molecular weights of the organic precursors (poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether, PEGME, and poly(ethylene glycol), PEG, respectively).The hybrid matrix of the mono-xerogels is composed by a siliceous backbone bonded by means of urethane linkages (-NHC (=O)O-) to pendant methyl end capped oligopolymer chains with approximately 7 oxyethylene units, whereas that of the di-xerogels is based on a siliceous network grafted through urethane groups to both ends of poly(oxyethylene) segments containing about 6 (OCH2CH2) repeat units.Both classes of materials have been doped with europium triflate (Eu(CF3SO3)3). The doped samples have been identified by m-Ut(350)nEu(CF3SO3)3 and d-Ut(300),Eu(CF3SO3), where n is the molar ratio of (OCH2CH 2) repeat units per Eu3+ ion. Materials with n ranging from ~o to 5 have been analyzed. The spectral data obtained provide evidence that the cations begin to coordinate to the ether oxygen atoms of the oligopolymer chains at n = 40 in the mono-urethanesils and at n = 10 in the di-urethanesils. In mono-urethanesils samples with n > 40 and in di-urethanesils materials with n > 10, the Eu 3+ coordinate exclusively to the carbonyl oxygen atoms of the urethane linkages.