Formation of Lanthanide(III)-Containing Metallosupramolecular Arrays Induced by Tris(spiroborate) Twin Bowl

Lanthanide­(III)-containing metallosupramolecular
arrays were prepared
in the crystalline state simply by mixing trifluoro­methane­sulfonate
salts of yttrium­(III), lanthanum­(III), europium­(III), terbium­(III),
erbium­(III), and ytterbium­(III) with a rac-tris­(spiroborate)
twin bowl in N,N-dimethylformamide
(DMF). In the crystal, the lanthanide­(III) ion coordinated to eight
or nine DMF molecules to form spherical tricationic complexes, and
the spiroborate twin bowl iteratively glued the complexes to each
other to form one-dimensional arrays that were unidirectionally packed
in the crystal. In each case, the array structure was stabilized by
many aromatic C–H···π interactions and
C–H···O hydrogen bonds between the twin bowls
and the lanthanide­(III) complexes. Among the lanthanide­(III) ions,
yttrium­(III), terbium­(III), erbium­(III), and ytterbium­(III) gave almost
the same crystal lattice and packing, whereas a different array structure
and crystal packing was observed when lanthanum­(III) and europium­(III)
were used, probably due to the difference of the ionic radii of the
lanthanide­(III) ions.