Quantification of C-H quenching in near-IR luminescent ytterbium and neodymium cryptates.

Two series of selectively deuterated cryptates with the lanthanoids Yb and Nd have been synthesized, and the luminescence lifetimes for the corresponding near-IR emission bands have been measured. Global fitting of these lifetime data combined with structural analysis allows for the accurate quantification of the contributions of individual C-H oscillators groups in the ligand to the nonradiative deactivation rates of the emissive lanthanoid states.