A series of luminescent lanthanide-cadmium-organic frameworks with helical channels and tubes

Lanthanide (Ln) oxides and cadmium (Cd) salts as sources of metals provided the first series of luminescent Ln-Cd-organic frameworks, [LnCd(imdc)(SO4)(H2O)(3)]center dot 0.5H(2)O (Ln = Tb, Eu, Dy, Gd, Er, Yb, Y, Nd, Pr; H(3)imdc = 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylic acid), in which the Ln atoms are linked by imdc ligands with skew coordination orientation, resulting in novel heterometallic-organic frameworks with left-/right-handed helical tubes (L1/R1) and channels (L2/R2) along the b axis.