Spectrochemical Properties of Lanthanide Coordination and Supramolecular Compounds

The work of the research group during the last 20 years in the field of lanthanide solvation, interaction with anions and neutral molecules, macrocyclic and supramolecular chemistry, and luminescent probes is briefly reviewed

Lanthanide Metal Ions as Cornerstones in Functional Self-Assembled Supramolecular Complexes

The peculiar spectroscopic, magnetic, and chemical properties of lanthanide ions (4f block, LnIII) are particularly attractive for the design of functional supramolecular devices if these ions can be selectively introduced into organized self-assembled architectures. The systematic investigation of a complete library of tridentate receptors leading to nine-coordinate tricapped trigonal prismatic sites upon coordination to LnIII allows the elucidation of the factors governing the structural, thermodynamic, electronic, magnetic, and spectroscopic properties of the final complexes. The simultaneous use of LnIII as cement between the molecular components of the supramolecular edifices and as functional vectors of the devices has been realized in self-assembled poly nuclear d-f and f-f complexes. Predetermined properties may result from a judicious molecular programming of the nanometric architecture leading to fascinating applications in luminescence, magnetism, template syntheses, and liquid crystals

Lighting up cells with lanthanide self-assembled helicates

Lanthanide bioprobes and bioconjugates are ideal luminescent stains in view of their low propensity to photobleaching, sharp emission lines and long excited state lifetimes permitting time-resolved detection for enhanced sensitivity. We show here how the interplay between physical, chemical and biochemical properties allied to microfluidics engineering leads to self-assembled dinuclear lanthanide luminescent probes illuminating live cells and selectively detecting biomarkers expressed by cancerous human breast cell

Rare earths: jewels for functional materials of the future

In recent decades, rare earths have become vital to a wealth of advanced materials and technologies including catalysts, alloys, magnets, optics and lasers, rechargeable hydride batteries, electronics, economical lighting, wind- and solar-energy conversion, bio-analyses and imaging. In this perspective article we give a broad overview of rare earth resources and uses first and then of selected applications in dedicated fields such as telecommunications, lasers, photovoltaics (solar-energy conversion), lighting (fluorescent lamps and OLEDs), luminescent probes for bio-analyses and bio-imaging, as well as magnetism and magnetic refrigeration. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique