A new zinc(II) coordination compound of meta-aminobenzoate and 4,4′-bipyridine with broad-band photoluminescence emission

Abstract A new coordination compound with a 1-D chain-like structure, [ZnL 2 (4,4′-bipy)] n (L =  meta -aminobenzoate; 4,4′-bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine), has been hydrothermally prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, elemental analysis, and photoluminescence determination. The obtained yellow prismatic crystal belongs to triclinic space group P 1 ¯ with a  = 7.9053(16), b  = 11.664(2), c  = 12.404(3) A, α  = 98.25(3), β  = 95.54(3), γ  = 103.08(3)°, Z  = 2, R 1  = 0.0439 and wR 2  = 0.0757. The 1-D chain contains rarely both μ - N , O -bridging bidentate and non-bridging monodentate coordination modes of L ligands, and they are consolidated by N–H···O, N–H···N, and C–H⋯π hydrogen bonds as well as π⋯π stacking interactions to yield a 3-D supramolecular network. The title compound exhibits a very broad emissive band ( λ em,max  = 520 nm) when illuminated by 370 nm light, where the high-energy and low-energy components are tentatively ascribed to ligand-centered and interligand transition, respectively, on the basis of experimental and theoretical data. This work may shed light on the design and synthesis of white-light-emitting coordination compounds.