A study of zinc(II) coordination polymers with identical meso-helix based on 1,4-bis(2-methyl-imidazol-1-yl)butane

On the basis of 1,4-bis(2-methyl-imidazol-1-yl)butane (bib), four new coordination polymers (CPs), namely, {[Zn(bib)(male)]2·2H2O}n (1), {[Zn(bib)(suc)]·H2O}n (2), {[Zn(bib)(fum)]·CH3OH}n (3), {[Zn(bib)(bpdc)]·2H2O}n (4) (H2mal = maleic acid, H2suc = succinic acid, H2fum = fumaric acid, bpdc2- − = 2,2’2′-bipyridine- 3,3’3′-dicarboxylate) have been synthesized by the reaction of zinc(II) salts and bib with four different aliphatic/aromatic binary acids under the same conditions, respectively. These coordination polymers are structurally characterized by elemental analysis, IR, single-crystal X-ray crystallography and TG analysis. All of them host a same meso-helical chain constructed by metal centers and bib ligands. 1 and 2 feature similar 2-D wave-like topology containing a meso-helical chain; 3 is a 3-D diamond-like structure, comprising two different meso-helical chains, and shows 4-fold interpenetrated framework with {6^6} topology; 4 is a 3-D diamond-like structure, containing a meso-helical chain, and displays 3-fold interpenetrated net with {6^6} topology. In addition, the phase purities of bulk samples were further identified by X-ray powder diffraction analysis. Solid state luminescent spectra have been investigated at room temperature, and the luminescent lifetime of 3 was monitored at room temperature.