Eu(III) complex of a macrocyclic ligand derived from 2,2'-bipyridine and iminodiacetic acid: Synthesis, luminescence and phosphate diester transesterification properties

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0040-4039(98)00027-6

A very convenient synthesis of a macrocyclic ligand bearing two endocyclic amide and two exocyclic carboxylate groups (lanthanide binding sites) and one sensitizer (2,2'-bipyridine unit) is described. It is shown that the corresponding Eu(III) complex bearing a single positive charge and incorporating two water molecules in the first coordination sphere of the metal ion is strongly fluorescent on the basis of energy-transfer luminescence (Φ = 0.36 in D₂O solution at 300 K) and cleaves a RNA model phosphate diester in aqueous solution.