Hydrothermal synthesis, crystal structure and strong blue fluorescence of a novel 3D coordination polymer containing copper and zinc centers linked by isonicotinic acid ligands

The first mixed metal Zn/Cu coordination polymer, [Zn3Cu2(IN)8] (1) (HIN = isonicotinic acid) was synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. The three dimensional structure of 1 has a novel topological metal-organic framework, which is built up by Zn2+, Cu+ and ligands IN to generate an open-framework with an unusual helical [–Zn(Cu)-IN–]n chains along the b axis. The very strong blue fluorescence for 1 can be observed in the solid state.