Herein some examples of the use of lanthanide ions (f-metal ions) to direct the synthesis of luminescent self-assembly systems (architectures) will be discussed. This area of lanthanide supramolecular chemistry is fast growing, thanks to the unique physical (magnetic and luminescent) and coordination properties of the lanthanides, which are often transferred to the resulting supermolecule. The emphasis herein will be on systems that are luminescent, and hence, generated by using either visibly emitting ions (such as Eu(III), Tb(III) and Sm(III)) or near infrared emitting ions (like Nd(III), Yb(III) and Er(III)), formed through the use of templating chemistry, by employing structurally simple ligands, possessing oxygen and nitrogen coordinating moieties. As the lanthanides have high coordination requirements, their use often allows for the formation of coordination compounds and supramolecular systems such as bundles, grids, helicates and interlocked molecules that are not synthetically accessible through the use of other commonly used templating ions such as transition metal ions. Hence, the use of the rare-earth metal ions can lead to the formation of unique and stable species in both solution and in the solid state, as well as functional and responsive structures.

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The reaction between the asymmetrical pyridyl ligands 3 (R) and 4 (S) and Eu(III) in CH(3)CN give rise to the formation of lanthanide luminescent 'half-helicates' in 1 : 3 (Ln:ligand) stoichiometry; the formation of which was observed by monitoring the changes in the ground and the excited state properties of the ligands, and in the time-resolved Eu-centred and the CPL emission.

The lanthanide directed self-assembly of chiral amphiphilic pda based ligands 1 and 2 with TbIII, SmIII, LuIII and DyIII salts was studied in CH3CN solution and as SAM LB-films.

The incorporation of chiral amphiphilic lanthanide-directed self-assembled Nd III complexes (Nd.1 3 and Nd.2 3 ) into stable Langmuir monolayers, and the subsequent Langmuir-Blodgett film formation of these, is described. The photophysical properties of the enantiomeric pair of ligands 1 and 2 in the presence of Nd(CF 3 SO 3 ) 3 were also investigated in CH 3 CN solutions using UVVis, fluorescence, lanthanide luminescence spectroscopies. Analysis of the resulting selfassembly processes revealed that two main species were formed in solution