Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses Eu 3+ and Tb 3+ complexes obtained upon encapsulation of these ions by cage-type ligands exhibiting—in solution—metal luminescence upon ligand excitation. Recent developments in the field of supramolecular chemistry have revealed that cage-type ligands are capable of encapsulating lanthanide ions, giving rise to the formation of complexes stable in solution. This is of particular interest because lanthanide ions do not exhibit strong coordination ability towards conventional ligands, especially in aqueous solution where water molecules compete efficiently to occupy the coordination sites of the metal ion. If the cage-type ligand incorporates chromophoric groups, it can play the role of an antenna in the complex by absorbing light and transferring the excitation energy to the metal ion, which eventually emits. An efficient antenna leads to metal luminescence much more intense than that obtained upon metal excitation because lanthanide ions are characterized by very low molar absorption coefficients. These complexes can be considered as light-conversion molecular devices because they are able to transform light absorbed by the ligand into light emitted by the ions via an intramolecular energy transfer.
Published Version
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