Structural diversity, photoluminescence and magnet properties of complexes based on a V-shaped polycarboxylate

Abstract The self-assembly of a V-shaped ligand 3,3′,4,4′-diphenylsulfonetetracarboxylate (dstc) and metal salts in the presence of a series of N-donor ligands yielded four new complexes, namely, [Cu 4 (H 2 dstc) 4 (phen) 4 ]·12H 2 O ( 1 ), {[Cu 2 (dstc)(bpe)(H 2 O) 2 ]·4H 2 O} n ( 2 ), [Cu 3 (dstc)(bipy)(μ 2 -OH) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] n ( 3 ), {[Cd 5 (dstc) 2 (bipy) 2 (μ 3 -OH) 2 (H 2 O) 4 ]·4H 2 O} n ( 4 ) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethene; bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine). All the complexes were structurally determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra, X-ray powder diffraction and TG analyses. Complex 1 is a discrete tetranuclear unit, which further assembles into a 3D supramolecular framework by intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions. Complex 2 is composed of 2D 4 4 grid-like layers based on dinuclear copper units. Complex 3 features a rare 3D (6,8)-connected topological net consisting of trimetallic clusters. 12-connected pentanuclear cadmium clusters are observed in complex 4 and the resulting structure shows an uncommon (4,12)-connected topology. The structural differences among 1 – 4 demonstrate that the nature of the N-donor assistant ligands and metal ions can play critical roles in the formation and structures of the resulting complexes. Magnetic studies showed antiferromagnetic interactions for 1 and 3 . In addition, the luminescent property of 4 was also studied.