Nonanuclear lanthanide(III) nanoclusters: Structure, luminescence and magnetic properties

Abstract A series of nonanuclear lanthanide(III) nanoclusters, (CH 3 ) 3 NH[Ln 9 (L) 16 (μ 3 -OH) 8 (μ 5 -O) 2 ](CH 3 OH) where Ln = Nd, Eu, Tb, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb and HL = (2-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)propan-1-one, was successfully synthesized and characterized by photoluminescence, magnetic susceptibility and X-ray crystallography. (CH 3 ) 3 NH[Gd 9 ( L ) 16 (μ 3 -OH) 8 (μ 5 -O) 2 ](CH 3 OH) crystallized in the monoclinic space group C 2/ c , with a monovalent anionic cluster and a tertiary ammonium counter ion. Temperature dependent photoluminescence studies of ((CH 3 ) 3 NH) 0.5 [Eu 9 (L) 16 (μ 3 -OH) 8 (μ 5 -O) 2 ](H 2 O) 5 highlights the presence of two distinct metal centers and temperature dependent magnetic susceptibilities for both ((CH 3 ) 3 NH) 0.5 [Dy 9 (L) 16 (μ 3 -OH) 8 (μ 5 -O) 2 ](H 2 O) 4 and ((CH 3 ) 3 NH) 0.5 [Tb 9 (L) 16 (μ 3 -OH) 8 (μ 5 -O) 2 ](H 2 O) 5 suggest weak antiferromagnetic interactions between the lanthanide(III) ions.