Complexation of Uranyl and Rare-Earth Ions by a Fluorinated Tetracarboxylate. Formation of a Layered Assembly and Three-Dimensional Frameworks

The reaction of uranyl and rare-earth nitrates with 4,4′-(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropylidene)­diphthalic acid (H4L) under hydro-/solvo-thermal conditions (2:1 water/acetonitrile at 180 °C) gives a series of complexes, most of which have been crystallographically characterized. In the lattice of the uranyl complex [(UO2)2­(L)­(H2O)2]·2H2O (1), the metal atoms are chelated by two adjacent carboxylate groups, each of the latter being bridging bidentate, and the resulting coordination polymer is two-dimensional. The ∼14 Å thick layers comprise two uranyl-covered faces linked to one another by L4– pillars, a claylike architecture likely due to the hydrophobic interactions between the organic ligands. The complexes [Ce­(HL)­(H2O)]·1.5H2O (2) and [Nd­(HL)­(H2O)]·2.5H2O (3) are isomorphous and they display a high degree of connectivity, with the metal atoms in ten- or eleven-coordinate environments being bound to five or six HL3– ligands. The three-dimensional (3D) framework formed contains one-dimensional subunits of adjacent metal ions with each coordination polyhedron sharing two triangular faces with its neighbors. The hydrophobic CF3 groups are oriented divergently from the exterior of wide channels (∼22 × 8 Å), which are occupied by the solvent water molecules. The complexes with rare-earth ions of smaller ionic radii, [M4(L)3(H2O)9]·7H2O with M = Er (4), Yb (5), and Y (6), are isomorphous to the previously reported terbium­(III) complex, and they crystallize as 3D frameworks containing di- and tetra-nuclear subunits. In the visible region, only the uranyl and europium (and terbium) complexes display significant solid-state luminescence.