A novel erbium material with a fascinated mercury bromide cluster (Hg 11 Br 34 ) 12– anion: synthesis and characterization

A novel erbium material with a fascinated mercury bromide cluster (Hg 11 Br 34 ) 12– anion, i.e., {[Er 2 (H 2 O) 4 (HIA) 6 ] 2 n }( n Hg 11 Br 34 )( n HgBr 2 )·4 n H 2 O (denoted as 1 and HIA indicates the isonicotinic acid molecule), was successfully synthesized from a solvothermal reactor. Its single crystal structure was determined by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffractions. The Er 3+ ions have a distorted square antiprism motif, and they are connected by isonicotinic acid molecules to yield a one-dimensional (1-D) chain. The Hg 2+ ions show two or four coordination motifs. This compound contains an unprecedented mercury bromide cluster (Hg 11 Br 34 ) 12– anion. This compound shows upconversion green photoluminescence emission with a CIE (Commission Internationale de I'Éclairage) chromaticity coordinates at (0.1749, 0.4351). It has a wide band gap of 3.24 eV. Graphic Abstract A novel erbium material with a fascinated mercury bromide cluster (Hg11Br34) 12– anion was reported. The Er 3+ ions have a distorted square antiprism motif and the compound features a 1-D chain-like structure. The Hg 2+ ions show two or four coordination motifs. It features upconversion green emission with CIE coordinates 0.1749 and 0.4351. It has a wide band gap of 3.24 eV.