Two luminescent alkali-silver heterometallic sulfonates

Systematic survey on the reactions of silver nitrate with H3Ssal ligand (H3Ssal = 5-sulfo-salicylic acid) accompanying with different alkali metal ions under alkali conditions leads to two novel luminescent alkali-silver heterometallic sulfonates, [KAg(HSsal)(H2O)3]n (1) with a 3-D structure constructed by [K2O10] binuclear units linking 1-D∞1[Ag2(HSsal)2] double chains, [NaAg(HSsal)(H2O)3]n (2) with a 3-D structure constructed by the [Ag2(HSsal)2] dimers connecting 1-D∞1[NaO6] chains, and also reveals the coordination strength of the alkali metal cations and Ag+ towards the sulfonate groups with K+ > Na+ > Ag+ > Li+ order. The two compounds show intense blue emissions in both solid state and water solution.