Lanthanide contraction effect on crystal structures of lanthanide coordination polymers with cyclohexanocucurbit[6]uril ligand

Abstract

A series of compounds based on the macrocyclic ligand cyclohexanocucurbit[6]uril (Cy6Q[6]) with formulas {Ln(H2O)6Cy6Q[6]}·2(CdCl4)·H3O·xH2O [isomorphous with Ln=La (1), Ce (2), Pr (3) and Nd (4), x=11 (1), 11 (2), 10 (3) and 11 (4)], {Sm(H2O)5Cy6Q[6]}·2(CdCl4)·H3O·10H2O (5) and {Ln(H2O)5(NO3)@Cy6Q[6]}·2(CdCl4)·2H3O·xH2O [isomorphous with Ln=Gd (6), Tb (7) and Dy (8), x=8 (6), 6 (7) and 6 (8)], have been successfully synthesized by the self-assembly of Cy6Q[6] with the corresponding lanthanide nitrate under hydrochloric acid aqueous solution in the presence of CdCl2. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that compounds 1–8 all crystallize in monoclinic space group P21/c, and display 1D coordination polymer structures. The lanthanide contraction effect on the structures of 1–8 has also been investigated and discussed in detail. In contrast, the reaction of Cy6Q[6] with the Ho(NO)3, Tm(NO)3, Yb(NO)3 under the same conditions resulted in the compounds 9–11 with formulas Cy6Q[6]·2(CdCl4)·2H3O·xH2O [isomorphous with x=10 (9), 10 (10), and 9 (11)], in which no lanthanide cations are observed. The structural difference of these compounds indicates that the Cy6Q[6] may be used in the separation of lanthanide cations.