Magnetic properties of the rare‐earth‐doped semiconductor GaEuN

Precursor approach to lanthanide dioxo monocarbodiimides Ln2O2CN2 (Ln=Y, Ho, Er, Yb) by insertion of CO2 into organometallic Ln-N compounds

We present two organometallic precursor approaches leading to the hitherto-unknown dioxo monocarbodiimides (Ln(2)O(2)CN(2)) of the late lanthanides Ho, Er, and Yb as well as yttrium. One involves insertion of CO(2), and the other one is a straightforward route using a molecular single-source precursor. To this end the reactivity of the activated amido lanthanide compound [(Cp(2)ErNH(2))(2)] towards carbon dioxide absorption under supercritical conditions was studied. Selective insertion of CO(2) into the amido complex yielded the single-source precursor [Er(2)(O(2)CN(2)H(4))Cp(4)], which was characterized by vibrational spectroscopy and thermal and elemental analyses. Ammonolysis of this amorphous compound at 700 degrees C affords Er(2)O(2)CN(2). To gain deeper insight into the structural characteristics of the amorphous precursor, a similar molecular carbamato complex was synthesized and fully characterized. X-ray structure analysis of the dimeric complex [Cp(4)Ho(2){mu-eta(1):eta(2)-OC(OtBu)NH}] shows an unusual bonding mode of the tert-butylcarbamate ligand, which acts as both a bridging and side-on chelating group. Ammonolysis of this compound also yielded dioxo monocarbodiimides, and therefore the crystalline carbamato complex turned out to be an alternative precursor for the straightforward synthesis of Ln(2)O(2)CN(2). Analogously, the dioxo monocarbodiimides of Y, Ho, Er, and Yb were synthesized by this route. The crystal structures were determined from X-ray powder diffraction data and refined by the Rietveld method (Ln=Ho, Er). Further spectroscopic characterization and elemental analysis evidenced the existence of phase-pure products. The dioxo monocarbodiimides of holmium and erbium crystallize in the trigonal space group P[over]3m1. According to X-ray powder diffraction, they adopt the Ln(2)O(2)CN(2) (Ln=Ce-Gd) structure type.

Nanocrystalline Lanthanide Nitride Materials Synthesised by Thermal Treatment of Amido and Ammine Metallocenes: X-ray Studies and DFT Calculations

The decomposition process of ammine lanthanide metallocenes was studied by X-ray diffractometry, spectroscopy and theoretical investigations. A series of ammine-tris(eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl)lanthanide(III) complexes 1-Ln (Lanthanide (Ln)=Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb) was synthesised by the reaction of [Cp(3)Ln] complexes (Cp=cyclopentadienyl) with liquid ammonia at -78 degrees C and structurally characterised by X-ray diffraction methods, mass spectrometry and vibrational (IR, Raman) spectroscopy. Furthermore, amido-bis(eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl)lanthanide(III) complexes 2-Ln (Ln=Dy, Ho, Er, Yb) were synthesised by heating the respective ammine adduct 1-Ln in an inert gas atmosphere at temperatures of between 240 and 290 degrees C. X-ray diffraction studies, mass spectrometry and vibrational (IR, Raman) spectroscopy were carried out for several 2-Ln species and proved the formation of dimeric mu(2)-bridged compounds. Species 1-Ln are highly reactive coordination compounds and showed different behaviour regarding the decomposition to 2-Ln. The reaction of 1-Ln and 2-Ln with inorganic bases yielded lanthanide nitride LnN powders with an estimated crystallite size of between 40 and 90 nm at unprecedented low temperatures of 240 to 300 degrees C. Temperature-dependent X-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations were performed and showed that the decomposition reaction yielded nanocrystalline material. Structural optimisations were carried out for 1-Ln and 2-Ln by employing density functional (DFT) calculations. A good agreement was found between the observed and calculated structural parameters. Also, Gibbs free energies were calculated for 1-Ln, 2-Ln and the pyrolysis reaction to the nitride material, and were found to fit well with the expected ranges.