Coordination Polymers from Biphenyl-Dicarboxylate Linkers: Synthesis, Structural Diversity, Interpenetration, and Catalytic Properties

The present work explores two biphenyl-dicarboxylate linkers, 3,3'-dihydroxy-(1,1'-biphenyl)-4,4'-dicarboxylic (H4L1) and 4,4'-dihydroxy-(1,1'-biphenyl)-3,3'-dicarboxylic (H4L2) acids, in hydrothermal generation of nine new compounds formulated as [Co2(μ2-H2L1)2(phen)2(H2O)4] (1), [Mn2(μ4-H2L1)2(phen)2]n·4nH2O (2), [Zn(μ2-H2L1)(2,2'-bipy)(H2O)]n (3), [Cd(μ2-H2L1) (2,2'-bipy)(H2O)]n (4), [Mn2(μ2-H2L1)(μ4-H2L1)(μ2-4,4'-bipy)2]n·4nH2O (5), [Zn(μ2-H2L1)(μ2-4,4'-bipy)]n (6), [Zn(μ2-H2L2)(phen)]n (7), [Cd(μ3-H2L2)(phen)]n (8), and [Cu(μ2-H2L2) (μ2-4,4'-bipy)(H2O)]n (9). These coordination polymers (CPs) were generated by reacting a metal(II) chloride, a H4L1 or H4L2 linker, and a crystallization mediator such as 2,2'-bipy (2,2'-bipyridine), 4,4'-bipy (4,4'-bipyridine), or phen (1,10-phenanthroline). The structural types of 1-9 range from molecular dimers (1) to one-dimensional (3, 4, 7) and two-dimensional (8, 9) CPs as well as three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (2, 5, 6). Their structural, topological, and interpenetration features were underlined, including an identification of unique two- and fivefold 3D + 3D interpenetrated nets in 5 and 6. Phase purity, thermal and luminescence behavior, as well as catalytic activity of the synthesized products were investigated. Particularly, a Zn(II)-based CP 3 acts as an effective and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for Henry reaction between a model substrate (4-nitrobenzaldehyde) and nitroethane to give β-nitro alcohol products. For this reaction, various parameters were optimized, followed by the investigation of the substrate scope. By reporting nine new compounds and their structural traits and functional properties, the present work further outspreads a family of CPs constructed from the biphenyl-dicarboxylate H4L1 and H4L2 linkers.

Amide-Driven Secondary Building Unit Structural Transformations between Zn(II) Coordination Polymers

The behavior of coordination polymers (CPs) against external stimuli has witnessed remarkable attention, especially when the resulting CPs present reversible molecular arrays. Accordingly, CPs with these characteristics can lead to differences in their properties owing to these structural differences, being promising for their use as potential molecular switches with diverse applications. Herein, we have synthesized four Zn(II) CPs bearing α-acetamidocinnamic acid (HACA) and 4,4'-bipyridine (4,4'-bipy). The reaction between Zn(OAc)₂·2H₂O, HACA, and 4,4'-bipy yields {[Zn(ACA)₂(4,4'-bipy)]·EtOH} _n (1), which was used for the formation of three CPs through dissolution-recrystallization structural transformations (DRSTs): {[Zn(ACA)₂(4,4'-bipy)]·2MeOH} _n (2), {[Zn₂(μ-ACA)₂(ACA)₂(4,4'-bipy)]·2H₂O} _n (3), and {[Zn₃(μ-ACA)₆(4,4'-bipy)]·0.75CHCl₃} _n (4). The study of the four crystal structures revealed that their secondary building units (SBUs) comprise monomeric, dimeric, and trimeric arrangements linked by 4,4'-bipy ligands. The fundamental role of the utilized solvent and/or temperature, as well as their effect on the orientation of the amide moieties driving the formation of the different SBUs is discussed. Furthermore, the reversibility and interconversion between the four CPs have been assayed. Finally, their solid-state photoluminescence has evinced that the effect of the amide moieties not only predetermine a different SBU but also lead to a different emission in 4 compared with 1-3.

Steric crowding of a series of pyridine based ligands influencing the photophysical properties of Zn(II) complexes

The combination of α-acetamidocinnamic acid (HACA) and different N, N,N and N,N,N pyridines (dPy) leads to crowded Zn(ii) metal centers. The increasing bulkiness competes with the chelation enhanced effect (CHEF) in the resulting quantum yields.

Hydro-thermal synthesis and crystal structure of poly[bis-(μ3-3,4-di-amino-benzoato)manganese], a layered coordination polymer

The hydro-thermal synthesis and crystal structure of the title two-dimensional coordination polymer, poly[bis-(μ3-3,4-di-amino-benzoato-κ3 N 3,O,O')manganese(II)], [Mn(C7H7N2O2)2] n , are described. The Mn2+ cation (site symmetry ) adopts a tetra-gonally elongated trans-MnN2O4 octa-hedral coordination geometry and the μ3-N,O,O' ligand (bonding from both carboxyl-ate O atoms and the meta-N atom) links the metal ions into infinite (10) layers. The packing is consolidated by intra-layer N-H⋯O and inter-layer N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The structure of the title compound is compared with other complexes containing the C7H7N2O2 - anion and those of the related M(C8H8NO2)2 (M = Mn, Co, Ni, Zn) family, where C8H8NO2 - is the 3-amino-4-methyl-benzoate anion.

Different packing motifs in the crystal structures of three mol-ecular salts containing the 2-amino-5-carb-oxy-anilinium cation: C7H9N2O2 +·Cl-, C7H9N2O2 +·Br- and C7H9N2O2 +·NO3 -·H2O

The syntheses and crystal structures of three mol-ecular salts of protonated 3,4-di-amino-benzoic acid, viz. 2-amino-5-carb-oxy-anilinium chloride, C7H9N2O2 +·Cl-, (I), 2-amino-5-carb-oxy-anilinium bromide, C7H9N2O2 +·Br-, (II), and 2-amino-5-carb-oxy-anilinium nitrate monohydrate, C7H9N2O2 +·NO3 -·H2O, (III), are described. The cation is protonated at the meta-N atom (with respect to the carb-oxy group) in each case. In the crystal of (I), carb-oxy-lic acid inversion dimers linked by pairwise O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds are seen and each N-H group forms a hydrogen bond to a chloride ion to result in (100) undulating layers of chloride ions bridged by the inversion dimers into a three-dimensional network. The extended structure of (II) features O-H⋯Br, N-H⋯Br and N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds: the last of these generates C(7) chains of cations. Overall, the packing in (II) features undulating (100) sheets of bromide ions alternating with the organic cations. Inter-molecular inter-actions in the crystal of (III) include O-H⋯O, O-H⋯(O,O), N-H⋯O, N-H⋯N and O-H⋯N links. The cations are linked into (001) sheets, and the nitrate ions and water mol-ecules form undulating chains. Taken together, alternating (001) slabs of organic cations plus anions/water mol-ecules result. Hirshfeld surfaces and fingerprint plots were generated to give further insight into the inter-molecular inter-actions in these structures. The crystal used for the data collection of (II) was twinned by rotation about [100] in reciprocal space in a 0.4896 (15):0.5104 (15) ratio.

H-Bonded and metal(ii)-organic architectures assembled from an unexplored aromatic tricarboxylic acid: structural variety and functional properties

This study reports the application of an aromatic tricarboxylic acid, 2,5-di(4-carboxylphenyl)nicotinic acid (H3dcna) as a versatile and unexplored organic building block for assembling a new series of metal(ii) (M = Co, Ni, Zn, Fe, and Mn) complexes and coordination polymers, namely [M(Hdcna)(phen)2(H2O)]·H2O (M = Co (1), Ni (2)), [Zn(μ-Hdcna)(phen)]n (3), [Co(μ-Hdcna)(bipy)(H2O)2]n·nH2O (4), [Zn2(μ-Hdcna)2(bipy)2(H2O)4]·6H2O (5), [Zn(μ3-Hdcna)(H2biim)]n (6), [Ni2(Hdcna)2(μ-bpb)(bpb)2(H2O)4] (7), [Fe(μ4-Hdcna)(μ-H2O)]n·nH2O (8), and [Mn3(μ5-dcna)2(bipy)2(H2O)2]n·2nH2O (9). Such a diversity of products was hydrothermally prepared from the corresponding metal(ii) salts, H3dcna as a principal multifunctional ligand, and N-donor mediators of crystallization (1,10-phenanthroline, phen; 2,2'-bipyridine, bipy; 2,2'-biimidazole, H2biim; or 1,4-bis(pyrid-4-yl)benzene, bpb). The obtained products 1-9 were fully characterized by standard methods (elemental analysis, FTIR, TGA, PXRD) and the structures were established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These vary from the discrete monomers (1, 2) and dimers (5, 7) to the 1D (3, 4, 6) and 2D (8, 9) coordination polymers (CPs). Structural and topological characteristics of hydrogen-bonded or metal-organic architectures in 1-9 were highlighted, revealing that their structural multiplicity depends on the type of metal(ii) source and crystallization mediator. Thermal stability as well as luminescent, magnetic, or catalytic properties were explored for selected compounds. In particular, the zinc(ii) derivatives 3, 5, and 6 were applied as efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the cyanosilylation of aldehydes with trimethylsilyl cyanide at room temperature. The catalytic reactions were optimized by tuning the different reaction parameters (solvent composition, time, catalyst loading) and the substrate scope was also explored. Compound 5 revealed superior catalytic activity leading to up to 75% product yields, while maintaining its original performance upon recycling for at least four reaction cycles. Finally, the obtained herein products represent the unique examples of coordination compounds derived from H3dcna, thus opening up the use of this multifunctional tricarboxylic acid for generating complexes and coordination polymers with interesting structures and functional properties.

Coordination networks incorporating halogen-bond donor sites and azobenzene groups

A coordination network decorated with halogen-bond donor sites for specific guest binding.