Microwave-assisted synthesis of ternary lanthanide(2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone)3(triphenylphosphine oxide)2 complexes

Abstract We report here the fast synthesis by microwave assisted technique of four ternary Ln(TTA)3(TPPO)2 complexes, where Ln = La(III), Eu(III), Tb(III) and Tm(III), TTA = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone, and TPPO = triphenylphosphine oxide, which are of interest in luminescence applications. Using this method, the reaction time was decreased to one minute with minimal purification step and the yields are comparable to literature values. The target complexes were characterized using 1H, 13C, 19F, 31P NMR and FTIR spectroscopy, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Further, we discuss here a hitherto unreported extensive network of hydrogen bonding interactions present in these complexes.