New Luminescent Tetranuclear Lanthanide-Based Silsesquioxane Cage-Like Architectures

The synthesis, structure, magnetic, and luminescence properties investigations of four new cage-like lanthanide-based silsesquioxanes (Cat)2[(PhSiO1.5)8(LnO1.5)4(O)(NO2.5)6(EtOH)2(MeCN)2] (where Cat+=Et4N+, PPh4P+ and Ln3+=Eu3+, Tb3+ and (Ph4P)4[(PhSiO1.5)8(TbO1.5)4(O)2(NO2.5)8]⋅10MeCN are reported. They present an unusual prism-like topology of cage architectures and lanthanide-characteristic emission, which makes them the first luminescent cage-like lanthanide silsesquioxanes. One of the Tb3+-based cages presents a magnetic spin-flip transition. © 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH