Two dinuclear lanthanide (Ln) complexes, formulated as [phen2Ln2(HCOO)4(HCOO)2 2x(NO3)2x] (1, Ln = Gd and x = 0.52; 2, Ln = Er and x = 0.90; phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), were synthesized and characterized. They are isostructural. The dinuclear molecule consists of two Ln3+ bridged by four formate groups and chelated by phen and formate/nitrate ligands, and the Ln3+ possesses a coordination environment of distorted tri-capped trigonal prism of LnOTN2. Both compounds behave as paramag- nets between 2 and 300 K, but display two static field induced magnetic relaxation processes. One is slow and of spin-lattice type, and it results from the lifting of Kramer's degeneracy of the ground-states of both Gd3+ and Er3+, and the other is fast, and it might be spin-spin type.
