Synthesis and luminescence properties of polymer–rare earth complexes containing salicylaldehyde‐type bidentate Schiff base ligand

Using molecular design and polymer reactions, two types of bidentate Schiff base ligands, salicylaldehyde–aniline (SAN) and salicylaldehyde–cyclohexylamine (SCA), were synchronously synthesized and bonded onto the side chain of polysulfone (PSF), giving two bidentate Schiff base ligand‐functionalized PSFs, PSF–SAN and PSF–SCA, referred to as macromolecular ligands. Following coordination reactions between the macromolecular ligands and Eu(III) and Tb(III) ions (the reaction occurred between the bonded ligands SAN or SCA and the lanthanide ion), two series of luminescent polymer–rare earth complexes, PSF–SAN–Eu(III) and PSF–SCA–Tb(III), were obtained. The two macromolecular ligands were fully characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ¹H NMR and UV absorption spectroscopy, and the prepared complexes were also characterized by FTIR, UV absorption spectroscopy and thermo‐gravity analysis. On this basis, the photoluminescence properties of these complexes and the relationships between their structure and luminescence were investigated in depth. The results show that the bonded bidentate Schiff base ligands, SAN and SCA, can effectively sensitize the fluorescence emission of Eu(III) and Tb(III) ions, respectively. PSF–SAN–Eu(III) series complexes, namely the binary complex PSF–(SAN)₃–Eu(III) and the ternary complex PSF–(SAN)₃–Eu(III)–(Phen)₁ (Phen is the small‐molecule ligand 1,10‐phenanthroline), produce strong red luminescence, suggesting that the triplet state energy level of SAN is lower and well matched with the resonant energy level of the Eu(III) ion. By contrast, PSF–SAN–Eu(III) series complexes, namely the binary complex PSF–(SCA)₃–Tb(III) and the ternary complex PSF–(SCA)₃–Tb(III)–(Phen)₁, display strong green luminescence, suggesting that the triplet state energy level of SCA is higher and is well matched with the resonant energy level of Tb(III).