In our efforts to investigate polydentate ligands bearing bulky backbones, we used a bulky ligand, 2,3,6,7-anthracenetetracarboxylic acid (H 4 ata), to react with Zn II ions under different conditions, yielding four new coordination polymers, {[Zn(ata) 0.5 (DMF)(H 2 O)] 3 DMF 3 H 2 O} n (1), {[Zn(ata) 0.5 (4,4 0 -bipy) 0.5 (DMF)] 3 DMF} n (2), {[Zn(ata) 0.5 (azpy) 0.5 (DMF)] 3 DMF} n (3), and {[Zn(ata) 0.5 (4,4 0 -bipy)(DMAC)] 3 (DMA) 0.5 } n (4) (DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide, 4,4 0 -bipy = 4,4 0 -bipyridine, azpy=4,4 0 -azopyridine, DMAC=N,N-dimethylacetamide, DMA=dimethylamine), which were characterized by IR and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 forms a two-dimensional (2D) network with (4,4) topology assembled by ata 4-ligands and Zn II ions. Complexes 2 and 3 are three-dimensional (3D) frameworks with {8 3 } 2 {8 5 ;10} topology containing infinite 2D networks pillared by 4,4 0 -bipy and azpy, respectively. Complex 4 takes a 2D structure with (4,4) net containing infinite onedimensional chains constructed by Zn II ions with 4,4 0 -bipy and ata 4-ligands. These results show that the reaction of 2,3,6,7-anthracenetetracarboxylic acid with Zn II in DMF tends to yield a layer structure which could be pillared by bipyridine-like ligands into 3D frameworks, and the final structure of the coordination polymer is greatly influenced by the solvent. Furthermore, the luminescence properties of 1-4 were studied in the solid state at room temperature.
