Synthesis, characterization, and near-infrared luminescent properties of the ternary thulium complex covalently bonded to mesoporous MCM-41

The crystal structure of a ternary Tm(DBM)3phen complex (DBM=dibenzoylmethane; phen=1, 10-phenanthroline) and the synthesis of hybrid mesoporous material in which the complex covalently bonded to mesoporous MCM-41 are reported. Crystal data: Tm(DBM)3phen C59H47N2O7Tm, monoclinic, P21/c, a=19.3216(12) A, b=10.6691(7) A, c=23.0165(15) A, α=90 deg., β=91.6330(10) deg., γ=90 deg., V=4742.8(5) A3, Z=4. The properties of the Tm(DBM)3phen complex and the corresponding hybrid mesoporous material [Tm(DBM)3phen-MCM-41] have been studied. The results reveal that the Tm(DBM)3phen complex is successfully covalently bonded to MCM-41. Both Tm(DBM)3phen complex and Tm(DBM)3phen-MCM-41 display typical near-infrared (NIR) luminescence upon excitation at the maximum absorption of the ligands, which contributes to the efficient energy transfer from the ligands to the Tm3+ ion, an antenna effect. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) centered at 1474 nm in the emission spectrum of Tm(DBM)3phen-MCM-41 is 110 nm, which is the potential candidate of broadening amplification band from C band (1530-1560 nm) to S+ band (1450-1480 nm) in optical area. - Graphical abstract: The crystal structure of Tm(DBM)3phen complex (DBM=dibenzoylmethane; phen=1, 10-phenanthroline). The complex is successfully covalently bonded to MCM-41 (Tm(DBM)3phen-MCM-41). After ligand-mediated excitation, the emission spectrum of Tm(DBM)3phen-MCM-41 shows the bands 802 and 1474 nm. The FWHM of the 1474-nm band for Tm(DBM)3phen-MCM-41 is 110 nm, such a broad spectrum enables a wide gain bandwidth for optical amplification