Synthesis and Luminescence Properties of Lanthanide Complexes of a Novel Polyaminopolycarboxylate Ligand

A novel polyaminopolycarboxylate ligand with many coordination sites, N,N,$N^1,N^1,N^2,N^2$-[( 2,4,6-tri(aminomethyl)-pyridine]hexakis(acetic acid) (TPHA), was designed and synthesized and its lanthanide complexes $Na_6Tb_2$(TPHA)$Cl_6{\cdot}14H_2O$, $Na_6Eu_2$(TPHA)$Cl_6{\cdot}8H_2O$, $Na_6Gd_2$(TPHA)$Cl_6{\cdot}11H_2O$ and $Na_6Sm_2$(TPHA)$Cl_6{\cdot}9H_2O$ were successfully prepared. The ligand and the complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, mass, NMR and TG-DTA. The TG-DTA studies indicated that the complexes had a high thermal stability, whose initial decomposition temperature was over $270^{\circ}C$. The luminescence properties of the complexes in solid state were investigated and the results suggested that $Tb^{3+}$ and $Eu^{3+}$ ions could be sensitized efficiently by the ligand, especially the Tb(III) complex displayed a very strong luminescence intensity (> 10000) and only displayed characteristic metal-centered luminescence. Also, the correlative comparison between the structure of ligand and luminescence properties showed how the number of the coordination atoms of ligand can be a prominent factor in the effectiveness of ligand-to-metal energy transfer.