The luminescence response of diamine-liganded europium complexes upon resonant and pre-resonant excitation

The luminescence of four europium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate complexes containing diamine ligands is studied in solutions. The compounds are resonantly excited in the ligand absorption band by means of high-power nanosecond UV laser pulses. Additionally, a continuous light source is also used for resonant, as well as pre-resonant excitation of the complexes. The luminescence response characterizes the synthesized europium coordination complexes as emissive compounds suitable for fluorometric applications. Related to the possible usefulness of the: diamine-liganded Eu complexes as luminescent labels for sensing and imaging of biological molecules, the luminescence response of these compounds upon UV excitation was probed also in aqueous media. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.