Two layered copper–bis(triazole) assemblies with Keggin polyoxoanions as pendants: Syntheses, structures and photocatalytic properties

Two new inorganic–organic hybrid compounds based on well-defined Keggin-type polyoxometalates and copper–bis(triazole) assemblies, namely, [Cu3(L)3(PMo12O40)2] · 9H2O (1) and [Cu3(L)3(PW12O40)2] · 9H2O (2) [L = 1,4-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-ylmethyl)-benzene], have been obtained under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR, and TG. To the best of our knowledge, compounds 1 and 2 represent rare 2D structural examples with POM clusters as pendants. In addition, the diffuse reflectivity spectra of these two compounds show that they can be regarded as a wide gap semiconductor. The photocatalytic experiments indicate that both 1 and 2 exhibit high catalytic activity for photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) with UV irradiation.