A family of germanates constructed from Ge7 clusters co-templated by metal complexes and organic/inorganic species

Abstract

A series of germanates, [Ni(DETA)₂]₂·Cl·[Ge₇O₁₃(OH)₂F₃] (DETA = diethylenetriamine, JLG-3), [Ni(1,2-PDA)₃]·[Ge₇O₁₄F₂(OC₂NH₇)]·0.5H₂O (1,2-PDA = 1,2-propanediamine, JLG-6), [Ni₂(TETA)₃]_0.5·[Ge₇O₁₄F₂(OC₂NH₇)]·H₂O (TETA = triethylenetetramine, JLG-7), and |(NH₃CH₂CH₂OH)₂|[Ni₂(TEPA)₂(en)][Ge₇O₁₄F₃]₂·H₂O (en = ethylenediamine, TEPA = tetraethylenepentamine, JLG-8), have been synthesized. All these compounds are co-templated by metal complexes and organic/inorganic species in a solvothermal system. Their structures are built up from Ge₇X₁₉ (Ge₇, X = –O, –OH, –F or –OC₂NH₇) clusters connected in two different modes: T² linkage mode to form the 1-D chain-like structure JLG-3 and T⁴ linkage mode to form 2-D layered structures JLG-n (n = 6, 7, 8). It is interesting to note that all of the layers of JLG-n (n = 6, 7, 8) are composed of a pair of chains, which can be found separately in the structure of JLG-3. Considering such chains or layers as SBUs, we can design numerous hypothetical 2-D layered and 3-D open-framework germanates based on the concept of “Scale Chemistry”.