Fine-Tuning the Porosities of the Entangled Isostructural Zn(II)-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks with Active Sites by Introducing Different N-Auxiliary Ligands: Selective Gas Sorption and Efficient CO2 Conversion

Three new pairs of 2-fold interpenetrated and self-entangled three-dimensional isostructural porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), [Zn(L1)(x)_0.5]·0.5H₂O (x = bipy for 1, bpa for 2, and bpe for 3) and [Zn(L2)(x)_0.5]·0.5H₂O (x = bipy for 4, bpa for 5, and bpe for 6) [bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine, bpa = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene, and bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene], have been created and fine-tuned via similar skeleton ligands 2-(imidazol-1-yl)terephthalic acid (H₂L1) and 2-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)terephthalic acid (H₂L2) and N-auxiliary coligands with different linking groups. Interestingly, the porosities of the MOFs can be effectively increased via the insertion of -CH₂CH₂- or -CH═CH- spacers into the N-auxiliary bipy ligand. As a result, complexes 5 and 6 displayed highly enhanced CO₂ uptake capacities. Furthermore, complex 5 also had a higher C₂/C₁ selectivity as well as great CO₂ cycloaddition efficiency.

Synthesis, structure, thermostability and luminescence properties of Zn(II) and Cd(II) coordination polymers based on dimethysuccinate and flexible 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene ligands

The design and synthesis of functional coordination polymers is motivated not only by their structural beauty but also by their potential applications. Zn(II) and Cd(II) coordination polymers are promising candidates for producing photoactive materials because these d(10) metal ions not only possess a variety of coordination numbers and geometries, but also exhibit luminescence properties when bound to functional ligands. It is difficult to predict the final structure of such polymers because the assembly process is influenced by many subtle factors. Bis(imidazol-1-yl)-substituted alkane/benzene molecules are good bridging ligands because their flexibility allows them to bend and rotate when they coordinate to metal centres. Two new Zn(II) and Cd(II) coordination polymers based on mixed ligands, namely, poly[[μ2-1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene-κ(2)N(3):N(3')]bis(μ3-2,2-dimethylbutanoato-κ(3)O(1):O(4):O(4'))dizinc(II)], [Zn2(C6H8O4)2(C14H14N4)]n, and poly[[μ2-1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene-κ(2)N(3):N(3')]bis(μ3-2,2-dimethylbutanoato-κ(5)O(1),O(1'):O(4),O(4'):O(4))dicadmium(II)], [Cd2(C6H8O4)2(C14H14N4)]n, have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Both complexes crystallize in the monoclinic space group C2/c with similar unit-cell parameters and feature two-dimensional structures formed by the interconnection of S-shaped Zn(Cd)-2,2-dimethylsuccinate chains with 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene bridges. However, the Cd(II) and Zn(II) centres have different coordination numbers and the 2,2-dimethylsuccinate ligands display different coordination modes. Both complexes exhibit a blue photoluminescence in the solid state at room temperature.

Four d10 metal coordination polymers based on bis(2-methyl imidazole) spacers: syntheses, interpenetrating structures and photoluminescence properties

Combining 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylate and bis(2-methyl imidazole) mixed ligands, four interpenetrating CPs with sql, dmp and dia networks have been constructed.