LANTHANIDE COMPLEXES OF ENCAPSULATING LIGANDS - LUMINESCENT DEVICES AT THE MOLECULAR-LEVEL

Lanthanide complexes of encapsulating ligands are studied as luminesce nt devices at the molecular level. The photophysical properties of the complexes which, up till now, showed the most intense luminescence ar e reported. The luminescence intensity of these complexes is discussed considering the efficiency of incident light-emitted light conversion , defined as the product of the absorption efficiency and the luminesc ence quantum yield. It is illustrated how the metal luminescence inten sity can be enhanced by adapting the ligands on basis of previously ob tained experimental results. The possible application of these complex es in fluoroimmunoassays is examined.