[Ge7O13(OH)2F3]3-·Cl-·2[Ni(dien)2]2+: The First Chainlike Germanate Templated by a Transition Metal Complex

The first chainlike germanate, [Ge7O13(OH)2F3]3-·Cl-·2[Ni(dien)2]2+, has been solvothermally synthesized by using Ni(dien)22+ cations as the template and characterized by IR, SEM, TGA, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA), elemental analysis, and single-crystal Xray diffraction, respectively. This compound crystallized in the monoclinic space group P2/n with a = 8.8904(2) (angstrom), b = 17.4374(3) (angstrom), c = 13.2110(3) (angstrom),(beta) = 101.352(1)°, V = 2007.97(7) (angstrom)^3, and Z = 2. Interestingly, the structure contains two types of chiral mer-[Ni (dien)2]^2+ cations and two types of chiral chains, one left-handed and the other right-handed, which lead to a racemic compound. The orderly separation of achiral s-fac-[Ni(dien)2]^2+ and chiral mer-[Ni(dien)2]^2+ isomers was found in the structure. The structure is stabilized by N-H···O(F, Cl) hydrogen bonds.