THE DISCOVERY OF A SIMPLE LIGAND BASED ON ACETOPHENONE BEARING EXCELLENT QUANTUM YIELDS FOR THE EXCITATION OF EU3+ AND TB3+

A new, relatively simple tetra-acid ligand derived from acetophenone w as synthesized and its luminescence properties when forming Eu(III) an d Tb(III) chelates were evaluated in aqueous and methanol solutions. T he titled compound displayed excellent quantum yields of triplet sensi tization of lanthanide luminescence (0.20-0.25 for Eu3+ and 0.95-1.00 for Tb3+). Results suggested that the metal and the cromophore should be in close contact and that the iminodiacetic arms isolate very well the metal from the surrounding OH oscillators which normally quench la nthanide luminescence. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.