Coordination geometry induced control of channel morphology in divalent metal pyridinedicarboxylate coordination polymers containing a kinked tethering organodiimine

Hydrothermal synthesis has afforded two divalent metal coordination polymers incorporating tridentate 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylate (PDC) ligands and the kinked dipodal organodiimine 4,4′-dipyridylamine (dpa), {[Ni(PDC)(dpa)(H2O)] · 2H2O} (1) and {[Zn(PDC)(dpa)] · 3H2O} (2), which were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and spectral and thermogravimetric analyses. Although both 1 and 2 display one-dimensional (1-D) polymeric chain motifs, the different coordination environments (octahedral in 1, distorted square pyramidal in 2) provoke divergence in the structures and aggregations of the chain subunits. Compound 1 manifests both polycatenation and interdigitation of its 1-D polymeric chains, while 2 exhibits only interdigitation, resulting in widely disparate morphologies for water molecule-bearing channels within the extended structures. Compound 1 possesses three distinct channel types occupied by isolated water molecules. Compound 2 presents only one type of channel, larger than those in 1, filled with D(5) discrete-chain water molecule aggregations. In both cases the co-crystallized water molecules are anchored to the coordination polymer matrix by hydrogen bonding involving PDC carboxylate oxygen atoms and the central amine unit of the dpa ligands. These supramolecular interactions are crucial for stability, as 1 and 2 both undergo irreversible loss of crystallinity upon dehydration.