A new dinuclear terbium complex as a novel luminescence probe for detecting amines

A strong green-light-emitting Tb complex [Tb 2 (csal) 6 (H 2 O) 4 ]·4H 2 O ( 1 ) (Hcsal   =   4-chlorosalicylicacid) has been synthesized. The structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. 1 exhibits a discrete dinuclear structure which is further assembled into a 3D supramolecular network by hydrogen bonding and aromatic π−π stacking interactions. This complex was used to detect ethylenediamine (EDA), triethylamine (TEA) and ethanolamine (EOA), the relationship between luminescence intense of 1 and concentrate of EDA or TEA can be fitted in Stern–Volmer equation. The results indicate that 1 is a promising probe for detecting amines with high selectivity and sensitivity.