The
reaction of aqueous solutions of EuIII, TbIII, and GdIII ions with Na2Hpcpa [H3pcpa = N-(4-carboxyphenyl)oxamic acid] afforded
three new isostructural oxamate-containing lanthanide(III) coordination
polymers of general formula {LnIII
2(Hpcpa)3(H2O)5·H2O}
n
[Ln = Eu (1),Tb (2), and
Gd(3)]. Their structure is made up of neutral zigzag
chains running parallel to the [101] direction where double syn–syn carboxylate(oxamate)-bridged
dilanthanide(III) pairs (Ln1 and Ln2) are linked by three Hpcpa2– ligands, one of them with the μ–κ2
O,O′:κO″ coordination mode and the other two with the μ3-κ2
O,O′:κO″:κO′′′.
Additionally, two of those chains are interlinked through hydrogen
bonding and π–π type interactions, resulting in
a porous structure with channels where water molecules are hosted.
The emission properties of 1 and 2 are evaluated
as a function of the temperature, exhibiting an emission in red and
green, respectively. The external quantum yield for 2 is approximately 7 times that obtained for 1, indicating
that the oxamate ligand is a better sensitizer for TbIII ions. The temperature dependence of the dc magnetic properties of 1–3 reveals a different magnetic behavior
depending on the nature of the LnIII ion. A continuous
decrease of χM
T occurs for 1 upon cooling, and finally χM
T tends to vanish, as expected for the thermal depopulation of the
six magnetic 7F
J
excited states
(J = 1–6) of the EuIII ion with
a nonmagnetic 7F0 ground state. χM
T for 2 decreases sharply with
decreasing the temperature due to the depopulation of the splitted
m
J
levels of the 7F7 ground state of the magnetically anisotropic TbIII ion.
A very weak antiferromagnetic interaction between the magnetically
isotropic GdIII ions across the double carboxylate(oxamate)
bridge is responsible for the small decrease of χM
T at low temperatures for 3. The dynamic
(ac) magnetic properties of 2 and 3 reveal
a slow magnetic relaxation with very incipient frequency-dependent
χM″ signals below 6.0 K (2) and
frequency-dependent χM″ peaks below 10.0 K
(3) under nonzero applied dc magnetic fields, being thus
new examples of field-induced single molecule magnets (SMMs).