Four new families of polynuclear Zn-Ln coordination clusters. Synthetic, topological, magnetic, and luminescent aspects

The employment of three structurally related Schiff bases H(2)L1, H(2)L2, and H(3)L3 with zinc and lanthanide salts under various reaction conditions, gave four families of compounds formulated as [Zn(2)(II)Ln(2)(III)(L1)(4)(EtOH)(6)][ClO4](2) (1-3), [Zn(5)(II)Ln(OH)(L1)(6)(H2O)] (4-6), [Zn(4)(II)Ln(2)(III)(OH)(2)(L2)(4) (OAc)(2)(NO3)(2)(DMF)3]center dot DMF (7-9), and [Zn(2)(II)Ln(2)(III)(L3)(2)(NO3)(2) (CO3)(2)(CH3OH)(2)] (10-12) with robust and novel topologies. Synthetic aspects are discussed. A comprehensive topological analysis of all reported Zn-II/Ln(III) CCs with a core nuclearity of four and above is presented and identifies that families (4-6) and (7-9) are the first examples of the 2,3,4M6-1 motif in Zn-II/Ln(III) chemistry. Magnetic studies are presented for the Dy-II analogues (1, 7, and 10) are presented, 7 demonstrates field -induced slow relaxation of the magnetization. Fluorescence studies are also discussed