White luminescent silica layers: The molecular design beneath

The incorporation of luminescent lanthanide complexes in solid matrices with controlled structural organization
is of widespread interest in materials science and has witnessed important improvements with
the development of low-temperature soft chemistry solution processes, such as sol-gel. In this review,
after an introductory part concerning some relevant aspects of the electronic and coordination properties
of lanthanides, the prominent issues related to the design and synthesis of efficient luminescent antenna
complexes, and their photophysical properties are presented. We describe the basic principles of ligands
design to yield systems featuring a coordination site for the metal cation with appended suitable chromophores
as sensitizers (two-component approach). When properly designed, these ligands are capable
of forming highly luminescent complexes (overall sensitization yield, se > 0.05 in aqueous medium).