Abstract
A crystalline 14-metal Zn-Nd cluster [Zn(6)Nd(8)L(2)(OAc)(20)(O)(2)(NO(3))(4)(OC(2)H(5))(4)] (1) was constructed using a flexible Schiff base ligand with long-chain (CH(2))(2)O(CH(2))(2)O(CH(2))(2) backbone. 1 exhibits a nanoscale rectangular structure (10 × 14 × 18 Å). Besides the visible ligand-centered emission, 1 displays typical NIR luminescence of Nd(3+). Interestingly, 1 shows both a ligand-centered and lanthanide fluorescence response towards metal ions, especially to K(+) and Co(2+) at the ppm level.