Determination of the structural parameters of heteronuclear (phthalocyaninato)bis(crownphthalocyaninato)lanthanide(III) triple- deckers in solution by simultaneous analysis of NMR and single- crystal X-ray data

Application of a general and convenient approach to the synthesis of heteronuclear crown-substituted triple-decker phthalocyaninates afforded two series of complexes containing one dia- and one paramagnetic Ln(III) ion (for Y and almost the whole lanthanide family), [(15C5)4Pc]M*[(15C5)4Pc]M(Pc) (or [M*,M] for brevity sake), where (15C5) is 15-crown-5; (Pc(2-)) is phthalocyaninato dianion; and M ≠ M* = Y, Nd, Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb. This approach consists of using LaPc2 as an efficient Pc(2-) source. The solid-state structures of two complexes ([Tm*,Y] and [Yb*,Y]) were studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, providing therefore a structural model for the assignment and analysis of (1)H NMR spectra of the complexes, which is strongly affected by the presence of paramagnetic lanthanide ions. Model validation was performed on complexes containing two different paramagnetic ions-[Dy*,Gd] and [Gd*,Dy] as well as [Tb*,Tm] and [Tm*,Tb]-synthesized by the above-mentioned method.