Assembly of a series of MOFs based on the 2-(m-methoxyphenyl)imidazole dicarboxylate ligand

Abstract

The coordination features of an imidazole dicarboxylate ligand, 2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid (m-H₃MOPhIDC) has been explored. Consequently, seven coordination polymers, namely [Sr(m-HMOPhIDC)(H₂O)]_n (1), [Sr(m-H₂MOPhIDC)₂]_n (2), [Cd₃(m-H₂MOPhIDC)₂(m-HMOPhIDC)₂(H₂O)₂]_n (3), [Cu(m-HMOPhIDC)(phen)]_n (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) (4), [Cd₂(m-HMOPhIDC)₂(phen)₂]_n (5) [Cd₂(m-HMOPhIDC)₂(2,2′-bipy)₂]_n (2,2′-bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine) (6) and [Co(m-HMOPhIDC)(H₂O)₂]_n (7) have been hydro(solvo)thermally synthesized by fine control over synthetic conditions, and structurally characterized. X-ray single-crystal analyses reveal that these polymers indicate rich structural chemistry ranging from one-dimensional (4–7), two-dimensional (1 and 3) to three-dimensional (2) structures, and the m-H₃MOPhIDC ligand in these polymers can be singly deprotonated or doubly deprotonated, and coordinates to metal ions by various modes. The thermal and fluorescence properties of the complexes 1–7 have been determined as well.