Hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structures, and luminescent properties of two lanthanide (III) complexes containing 2-sulfoterephthalate

Two lanthanide (III) complexes, {[Ln(stp)(H2O)3]·H2O}n (Ln = Tb (1), Eu (2); stp = 2-sulfoterephthalate trianion), have been synthesized by hydrothermal method and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, thermogravimetric and single-crystal X-ray structure analyses. The Ln (Ln = Tb or Eu) atoms have nine coordination numbers with a distorted monocapped square-antiprismatic geometry. The stp ligands act as pentadentate ligands to link Ln (Ln = Tb or Eu) atoms into a two-dimensional layer and sensitize the Tb(III) or Eu(III) ions to exhibit the characteristic emission.