Two inorganic–organic hybrid compounds based on [Ni2(V3O9)2]2− cluster and {Co2V2} cage subunits

Two novel inorganic-organic hybrid compounds (Ni3(Hfcz)4(V3O9)2∙ 2H2O) (1) and Co5(H2O)4(fcz)2(V4O12)2 (2) have been successfully constructed, based on [Ni2(V3O9)2]2− “bow tie” clusters and {Co2V2} pure inorganic cages. Structural analysis reveals that the clusters and cages are expanded to a 2D network and 3D framework via NiII and CoII, respectively. In addition, we investigated the optical band gaps of the two compounds: 2.92 eV and 2.23 eV.