Divalent Thulium Triflate: A Structural and Spectroscopic Study

The first molecular Tm^II luminescence measurements are reported along with rare magnetic, X and Q bands EPR studies. Access to simple and soluble molecular divalent lanthanide complexes is highly sought for small-molecule activation studies and organic transformations using single-electron transfer processes. However, owing to their low stability and propensity to disproportionate, these complexes are hard to synthetize and their electronic properties are therefore almost unexplored. Herein we present the synthesis of [Tm(μ-OTf)₂(dme)₂]_n, a rare and simple coordination compound of divalent thulium that can be seen as a promising starting material for the synthesis of more elaborated complexes. This reactive complex was structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis and its electronic structure has been compared with that of its halide cousin TmI₂(dme)₃.