Pale yellow crystals of LnSb2O4Br (Ln = Eu–Tb) were synthesized via high temperature solid-state reactions from antimony sesquioxide, the respective lanthanoid sesquioxides and tribromides. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies revealed a layered structure in the monoclinic space group P21/c. In contrast to hitherto reported quaternary lanthanoid(III) halide oxoantimonates(III), in LnSb2O4Br the lanthanoid(III) cations are exclusively coordinated by oxygen atoms in the form of square hemiprisms. These [LnO8]13− polyhedra form layers parallel to (100) by sharing common edges. All antimony(III) cations are coordinated by three oxygen atoms forming ψ1-tetrahedral [SbO3]3− units, which have oxygen atoms in common building up meandering strands along [001] according to {[SbO2/2vO1/1t]–}∞1 (v = vertex-sharing, t = terminal). The bromide anions are located between two layers of these parallel running oxoantimonate(III) strands and have no bonding contacts with the Ln3+ cations. Since Sb3+ is known to be an efficient sensitizer for Ln3+ emission, photoluminescence studies were carried out to characterize the optical properties and assess their suitability as light phosphors. Indeed, for both, GdSb2O4Br and TbSb2O4Br doped with about 1.0–1.5 at-% Eu3+ efficient sensitization of the Eu3+ emission could be detected. For TbSb2O4Br, in addition, a remarkably high energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+ could be detected that leads to a substantially increased Eu3+ emission intensity, rendering it an efficient red light emitting material.

The oxygen atoms of the two new compounds belong to ψ1-tetrahedral [SbO3]3− units, which are either vertex-connected to four-membered rings in YSb2O4Cl or to endless chains in YSb2O4Br. Eu3+- and Tb3+-doped samples show red or green luminescence.

All representatives of the isotypic series LnSb2O4Cl (Ln = Gd–Lu) could be obtained as single crystals, which crystallize just like the prototypic YSb2O4Cl in the non-centrosymmetric tetragonal space group P4212. The steady decrease in lattice parameters from a = 781.08(4) pm and c = 881.47(6) pm for GdSb2O4Cl to a = 764.66(4) pm and c = 877.53(7) pm for LuSb2O4Cl reflect the consequences of the lanthanide contraction, as expected. The Ln 3+ cations reside in the surrounding of eight oxygen atoms arranged as square hemiprisms [LnO8]13−, which are linked by four of their coplanar edges to form layers according to 2 ∞ { [ L n O 8 / 2 e ] 5 − } $\begin{array}{l}2\hfill \\ \infty \hfill \end{array}\left\{{\left[Ln{\text{O}}_{8/2}^{e}\right]}^{5-}\right\}$ parallel to the (001) plane. The Sb3+ cations form ψ1-tetrahedral [SbO3]3– anions together with three oxygen atoms. Two of these anions are connected with additional Sb3+ cations, but the third one shows no extra connectivity. Four ψ1-tetrahedral [SbO3]3– units build an eight-membered ring 0 ∞ { [ Sb 4 O 8 ] 4 − } $\begin{array}{l}0\hfill \\ \infty \hfill \end{array}\left\{{\left[{\text{Sb}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{8}\right]}^{4-}\right\}$ . These isolated rings are arranged parallel to the (001) plane. Between the oxygen-connected triple layers of Ln 3+ and Sb3+ cations with the composition 2 ∞ { [ L n Sb 2 O 4 ] + } $\begin{array}{l}2\hfill \\ \infty \hfill \end{array}\left\{{\left[Ln{\text{Sb}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{4}\right]}^{+}\right\}$ there are single layers of Cl− anions, not connected strongly to any of the trications. Due to the presence of isolated cyclic [Sb4O8]4– anions, these lanthanoid(III) oxidoantimonate(III) chlorides LnSb2O4Cl (Z = 4) can also be described with the molecular formula Ln 2[Sb4O8]Cl2 (Ln = Gd–Lu) for Z = 2.

SummaryThe electrocopolymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) with the branched thiophene building block 2,2′:3′,2″-terthiophene (3T) is presented as a versatile route to functional polymer films. Comparisons to blend systems of the respective homopolymers PEDOT and P3T by in situ spectroelectrochemistry and Raman spectroscopy prove the successful copolymer formation and the access to tailored redox properties and energy levels. The use of EDOT-N3 as co-monomer furthermore allows modifications of the films by polymer analogous reactions. Here, we exemplarily describe the post-functionalization with ionic moieties by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (“click”-chemistry) which allows to tune the surface polarity of the copolymer films from water contact angles of 140° down to 40°.

The rare earth metal(III) chloride oxidoarsenates(III) with the composition RE5Cl3[AsO3]4 (RE = La–Nd, Sm) could be synthesized via solid-state methods through the reaction of arsenic sesquioxide (As2O3) with the corresponding rare earth metal compounds (La2O3, CeO2 + metallic Ce, Pr6O11, Nd2O3 or metallic Sm) using several chloride-containing fluxing agents in evacuated silica glass ampoules. The compounds build up non-isotypic crystal structures in the monoclinic space groups C2/c for RE = La–Pr, and P2/c for RE = Nd and Sm. All rare earth metal(III) cations exhibit coordination numbers of eight. While (RE1)3+ and (RE2)3+ are only surrounded by oxygen atoms in the form of distorted square antiprisms or prisms, (RE3)3+ is coordinated square antiprismatically by four oxygen atoms and four chloride anions. Although the coordination polyhedra in both structures differ only marginally, their connection patterns show more pronounced differences. This regards especially the (RE)3+ cations and results from different site symmetries of the (Cl1)− anions. All As3+ lone-pair cations are coordinated by three oxygen atoms to form ψ1-tetrahedral [AsO3]3− complex anions with their non-binding (lone) electron pairs pointing into empty channels along [010].