A new multidentate ligand (H3 L) was synthesized by the condensation reaction of 4-tert-butyl-2,6-diformylphenol and 2-amino-4-nitrophenol. The reaction of the ligand with hydrated lanthanide nitrate produced two isostructural trinuclear coordination clusters: [DyLn3 L3 (DMF)3 (H2 O)2 ] ⋅ 3.8DMFLn=Dy (1) and Nd (2) (DMF=N, N-dimethylformamide). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that there are three lanthanide ions arranged in an almost perfect linear fashion in both complexes. Magnetic studies show single-molecule-magnet (SMM) behavior in the Dy derivative with τ0 =1.7×10-6 s and a thermal energy barrier of 7.0 cm-1 . Both complexes were used as catalysts towards the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction of indole with different aldehydes with yields varying from 59-98 %. Complex 1 showed better catalytic efficiency than complex 2. This is the first report of using trinuclear lanthanide coordination clusters as catalysts for the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction.
Keywords: Friedel-Crafts alkylation; coordination chemistry; homogeneous catalysis; lanthanides; single-molecule magnetism.
© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.