New topology observed in highly rare interlaced triple-stranded molecular braid

Abstract

In this work, we present one novel metal–organic compound, namely Co₃(L)₆(4,4′-bpy)₃(1), where HL and 4,4′-bpy are salicylaldehyde and 4,4′-bipyridine, respectively. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that compound 1 crystallizes in the C2/c space group, the Co(II) ions are six-coordinated to bear the CoO₄N₂ octahedral geometry, and the overall structural feature is the intriguing topological building of interlaced triple-stranded molecular braid. A further investigation reveals that the present topology of triple-stranded molecular braid is very different from the reported cases and presents a new topology that is never developed, so far.