Aqueous Ln(III) Luminescence Agents Derived from a Tasty Precursor [electronic resource].
Published
Berkeley, Calif. : Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2008. Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
The synthesis, aqueous stability and photophysical properties are reported for a novel tetradentate ligand derived from maltol, a commonly used flavor enhancer. In aqueous solution, this chelate forms stable complexes with Ln(III) cations, and sensitized emission was observed from Eu(III), Yb(III), and Nd(III). A comparison with recently reported and structurally analogous ligands reveals a slightly higher basicity but lower complex stability with Eu(III) [pEu = 14.7 (1)]. A very poor metal centered quantum yield with Eu(III) was observed (Φ{sub tot} = 0.04%), which can be rationalized by the similar energy of the ligand triplet state and the Eu(III) ⁵D₀ emissive level. Instead, sensitized emission from the Yb(III) and Nd(III) cations was observed, which emit in the Near Infra-Red (NIR).