title: Ligand-field excited states of hexacyanochromate and hexacyanocobaltate as sensitisers for near-infrared luminescence from Nd(iii) and Yb(iii) in cyanide-bridged d-f assemblies.
abstract: Crystallisation of [Co(CN)(6)](3-) or [Cr(CN)(6)](3-) with Ln(iii) salts (Ln = Nd, Gd, Yb) from aqueous dmf afforded the cyanide-bridged d/f systems [Ln(dmf)(4)(H(2)O)(3)(micro-CN)Co(CN)(5)] (-, discrete dinuclear species) and {[Cr(CN)(4)(micro-CN)(2)Ln(H(2)O)(2)(dmf)(4)]}(infinity) (-, infinite cyanide-bridged chains with alternating Cr and Ln centres). With Ln = Gd the characteristic long-lived phosphorescence from d-d excited states of the [M(CN)(6)](3-) units was apparent in the red region of the spectrum, with lifetimes of the order of 1 micros, since the heavy atom effect of the Gd(iii) promotes inter-system crossing at the [M(CN)(6)](3-) units to generate the phosphorescent spin-forbidden excited states. With Ln = Yb or Nd however, the d-block luminescence was completely quenched due to fast (>10(8) s(-1)) energy-transfer to the Ln(iii) centre, resulting in the characteristic sensitised emission from Yb(iii) and Nd(iii) in the near-IR region. For both - and -, calculations based on spectroscopic overlap between emission of the donor (Co) and absorption of the acceptor (Ln) suggest that the Dexter energy-transfer mechanism is responsible for the complete quenching that we observe.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UKS3 7HF.
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lazarides
authors.forename: Graham M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sabatini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barigelletti
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.forename: Simon J A
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Pope
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ward