Urothermal synthesis of a photoluminescent zinc coordination polymer

Solvent plays an important role in the self-assembly of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). It has been demonstrated that the urea derivatives are a new kind of useful solvents, and a new synthetic method denoted as “urothermal synthesis” is emerging. Presented here are the urothermal synthesis, structure and photoluminescent property of an interesting coordination polymer {Zn3[(sip)2(tmdpy)2(e-urea)4(H2O)2](e-urea)2}n (1; sip = 5-sulfoisophthalate; tmdpy = 1.3-di(4-pyridyl)propane; and e-urea = 2-imidazolidinone) with ladder-like structure.