Hydrothermal syntheses, crystal structures and luminescence properties of two lanthanide dinuclear complexes with hexafluoroglutarate

Two complexes [Ln2(hfga)2(phen)4(H2O)6] · hfga · 2H2O (H2hfga = hexafluoroglutaric acid, phen = 1, 10-phenanthroline, Ln=Tb, 1; Eu, 2) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and their structures determined by X-ray crystallography. The complexes consist of dinuclear units with an inversion center. Each Ln(III) is nine-coordinate with two carboxylate oxygens from two hfga ligands, three oxygens from water and four nitrogens from two phen molecules. Two carboxylate groups of one hfga adopt monodentate coordination to Ln(III) as a long bidentate bridge linking two Ln(III) ions to form a dimer. Ln(III) ··· Ln(III) distances of 9.027(3) A for 1 and 9.043(3) A for 2 were observed. Both complexes emit strong fluorescence and show characteristic emission of Tb(III) and Eu(III) ions, respectively.