New Cd(II), Zn(II) helical coordination polymers constructed from hybrid ligands 4-ferrocenylbutyrate and 1,1-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole

Abstract Self-assemblies of Cd(II) or Zn(II) salts with hybrid ligands sodium 4-ferrocenylbutyrate and 1,1-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1H-benzimidazole (bbbm) gave rise to two new coordination polymers {[Cd(η 2 -OOC(CH 2 ) 3 Fc) 2 (bbbm)]·CH 3 OH} n ( 1 ) and {[Zn(OOC(CH 2 ) 3 Fc)(η 2 -OOC(CH 2 ) 3 Fc)(bbbm)]·CH 3 OH} n ( 2 ) (Fc = (η 5 -C 5 H 5 )Fe(η 5 -C 5 H 4 )). Both polymers possess 1D helical chain structures with 2 1 screw axes along the b -direction although the coordination modes of the 4-ferrocenylbutyrate ligands and the coordination environments of the central metals in the two polymers are different. In addition, the redox properties of polymers 1 and 2 are also investigated and the results show that the formal potentials and the self-diffusion coefficients of the two polymers are close to each other.