Isomorphous neodymium and europium picrate complexes with hexamethylph
osphoramide (HMPA) were prepared and characterized. Single-crystal X-r
ay data of the neodymium compound indicate that the metal ion is coord
inated to three HMPA groups and three bidentate picrates in a distorte
d tricapped-trigonal prismatic geometry. The bands of the fluorescence
spectrum of the europium complex indicate a D-3h symmetry distorted t
o C-3v.