Hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structure and third-order non-linear optical property of a copper chloride cluster

A novel one-dimensional chain coordination polymer [[CuCl2]2(phen)2]∞ (1) and a three-dimensional coordination polymer [[CuCl] (phen)2](CuCl2) (2) were synthesized from simple hydrothermal reactions and the structures were characterized with elemental analysis, FT-IR spectrum and X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 crystallized in the monoclinic space group Cc with a = 9.874(2), b = 17.871(4), and c = 13.440(3) A, α = 90.00°, β = 106.59(3)°, γ = 90.00°, R 1 = 0.0463, wR 2 = 0.0819. Compound 2 crystallized in the monoclinic space group P2/c with a = 14.4084(13), b = 12.6280(11) and c = 13.3560(12) A, α = 90.00°, β = 111.490(2)°, γ = 90.00°, R 1 = 0.0771, wR 2 = 0.1439. In the packing structure, π–π stacking interactions are the most significant factors controlling the novel supramolecular sheets for the title compound. Moreover, the third-order non-linear optical property of the two compounds were also investigated and they show reverse saturable absorption and self-focusing performance.