“Pinwheel” subunit-directed polyoxometalate-based hybrid compound [Cu(bimb)2]2[β-Mo8O26] with both helixes and chiral layers

Abstract

A new polyoxometalate-based hybrid compound, [Cu(bimb)₂]₂[β-Mo₈O₂₆] (1) (bimb = 1,3-bis(1-imidazoly)benzene), has been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR spectrum, elemental analyses and powder X-ray diffraction. Structural analysis revealed that the structure of 1 consists of a pair of chiral “pinwheel” subunits, and that such “pinwheel” subunits direct the formation of enantiomorphous chiral layers, in which the left- and right-handed helical chains are arranged regularly along the [001] direction. To the best of our knowledge, compound 1 represents the first example of an octamolybdate-based compound with both chiral and helical structural features. In addition, a photocatalytic experiment indicated that the title compound presents good degradation activity and may be a potential photocatalyst to decompose the methylene blue dye.