Facile preparation and dual catalytic activity of copper(i)–metallosalen coordination polymers

Abstract

Three copper(I)–metallosalen coordination polymers (CPs), {[Ni^II(SalImCy)]₂(Cu^ICN)₉}_n (1), {[Cu^II(SalImCy)]₂(Cu^ICN)₉}_n (2) and {[Ni^II(SalImCy)](Cu^II)₂·DMF}_n (3) were prepared by direct combination of Ni^II/Cu^II(salen) motifs with [Cu^ICN]_n chains and Cu₂I₂ clusters via the metalloligand strategy. The mixed-valence and mixed-metal CPs could effectively catalyze both the oxidation of aromatic alcohols to ketones and aldehydes under mild conditions and photocatalytic degradation of organic dye methylene blue (MB). This work demonstrates the effective integration of transition metal catalytic Ni^II/Cu^II(salen) units and photoactive copper(I) species in a single solid polymer to meet the demand for catalytic materials with the dual catalytic properties.