A comprehensive overview of the synthesis, structure and application of heteronuclear samarium(III)/3d metal complexes with salen type compartmental ligands

• Discussion on different synthetic routes of transition metal-samarium(III) complexes. • Brief discussion on the structures of the complexes. • Brief discussion on the magnetic properties of the complexes. • Highlights on other applications and future scope. This review focuses light on the synthesis of different heteronuclear samarium(III)/3d metal complexes of ‘salen type’ N 2 O 2 O 2 ′ donor compartmental Schiff base ligands. In each of these complexes, transition metals are placed in the inner N 2 O 2 donor cavity by and samarium(III) is placed in the outer O 2 O 2 ′ cavity. Only those structures are considered whose structures (determined by X-ray diffraction) are available in literature. The cifs of the complexes were collected from CCDC (Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre). The structures, interesting magnetic and luminescent properties of the complexes are discussed briefly in the review. The interesting magnetic and luminescent properties of the complexes indicate that they may have potential applications in different magnetic devices and luminescence-based sensors. The review also highlights on the less explored applications of these complexes. This review represents the synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of samarium(III) complexes with transition metal-salen type metalloligands