One Chiral and Two Achiral 3-D Coordination Polymers Constructed by 2-Phenyl Imidazole Dicarboxylate

Two chiral three-dimensional (3-D) coordination polymers, [Cd 4 (μ 3 -HPhIDC) 2 (μ 4 -HPhIDC) 2 (H 2 O)] ( 1 ) and two achiral 3-D coordination polymers, [Mn 1.5 (μ 3 -PhIDC)(H 2 O) 3 ] ( 2 ) and [Mn(μ 3 -HPhIDC)(H 2 O)] 2 } ( 3 ), have been synthesized by hydro(solvo)thermal reaction, employing 2-phenyl-1 H -imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid (H 3 PhIDC) as organic ligand, and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analyses, and IR spectra. Polymer 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic chiral space group P 2(1)2(1)2(1) and exhibits a 3-D framework, in which two-dimensional (2-D) layers are composed of right-handed helices along the b -axis and are further pillared by μ 4 -HPhIDC 2− linkages. Polymer 2 crystallizes in trigonal chiral space group R 3̅ and presents a novel 3-D structure, which is generated from 2-D honeycomb-like layers, containing similar right-handed helical chains along the a or b axes, respectively. Polymer 3 also has a 3-D architecture and is composed of novel 2-D stairlike layers in the bc plane. The theoretical prediction of the phenyl substituent effect of the H 3 PhIDC ligand has first been presented.