Single lanthanide(III) ion white light emission is in high demand since it provides the advantage of requiring only one chromophore for the control of the color. Herein, a series of Ga3+/Dy3+ metallacrowns (MCs) is presented, demonstrating outstanding white light colorimetric properties with CIE chromaticity coordinates of (0.309, 0.334) and correlated color temperature (CCT) equal to 6670 K for the MC emitting the closest to the standard white color. Experimental data reveal that the CIE coordinates within the studied series of MCs are controlled mainly by the Dy3+-centered emission rather than by the ligand-centered bands, implying that Dy3+ can be tuned as a single ionic white light emitter by a simple modification of the coordination environment.

The synthesis and characterization of {Ln[12-MCGaIIIN(eshi)-4]}2(iph)4 and {Ln[12-MCGaIIIN(shi)-4]}2(miph)4 metallacrowns (MCs), where shi3− is salicylhydroximate, eshi3− is 4-ethynylsalicylhydroximate, iph2− is isopthalate, and miph2− is 5-maleimidoisophthalate, is reported. The ethynyl functionality allows for coupling of MCs to azides using copper(I) catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC), while the maleimido functionality allows for coupling of the MCs to thiol-bearing compounds. We demonstrate these coupling reactions using benzyl azide for the former and cysteamine for the latter, with complete conversion shown by ESI-MS. With the Sm analogues, the MCs exhibit characteristic luminescent emission of Sm(III), which is preserved after introducing the ethynyl and maleimido groups onto the MC scaffold. Furthermore, the high stability of these compounds in solution illustrates that once functionalized, the MCs are promising for fluorescent imaging applications.