Data for: Photostable soft materials with tunable emission

Herein we present a synthesis of ionic liquid imidazole-based cations with appended sulfone as terminals. These structures are investigated by RMN (2D), XDR, FTIR and Raman; and show high yield; purity; melting point < 95 °C associated with thermal stability up to 239 °C; chemical stability in water and common organic solvents; and highlighted white light emission. We employed the IL as building blocks in coordination chemistry with ions Gd3+, Eu3+, and Tb3+ to elaborate translucent, luminescent and photostable soft materials. Coordination compounds were characterized by vibrational spectroscopy (FTIR/Raman), UV-vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Gd3+, Eu3+, Tb3+(IL)3(H2O)3 complexes display great lifetime >1.6 ms, quantum efficiency > 77%, narrow linewidth, a high degree of color purity and tunable emission. These excellent photophysical properties, associated with soft materials processability, make these materials potentially applicable in the development of luminescent films as OLEDs. We provide data for a detailed study of photoluminescence based on the theories developed by Malta-Judd-Ofelt.