Structural Diversity of Lanthanide Chain Compounds Based on 3‑Ethoxycinnamate: Influence on the Magnetic Properties

Nine novel coordination compounds consisting of chains of lanthanide ions have been synthesized with the use of the ligand 3-ethoxycinnamate (L) to study the influence of the structural features on their magnetic properties. The new compounds belong to four different structural families, which are afforded with variations on the experimental conditions and selection of the lanthanide ion, their corresponding formulas being {[Ln­(L)3(H2O)]·DMF}n (Ln = Ce (1), Nd (2), Gd (3)), {[Ln­(L)3]­[Ln­(L)3(H2O)]·DMF}n (Ln = Gd (4), Tb (5), Dy (6), Er (7)), and {[Ln­(L)3]­[Ln­(L)3(H2O)]·DMSO}n (Ln = Dy (8), Yb (9)). Despite the fact that all of the compounds are based on the formation of infinite lanthanide–carboxylate chains, a structural study shows differences in the coordination environment of the lanthanide and in the bridging modes of the carboxylate groups. This is also reflected in the supramolecular packing of the chains formed. Investigations of their magnetic properties reveal a field-induced slow relaxation for compounds 2, 4, and 9