The solvothermal reactions of 1,4-bezenedicarboxylic acid (H
2
BDC) or azobenzene-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid (H
2
ABD) with zinc ions/clusters lead to the formation of four crystalline materials. All of these compounds were characterized by x-ray diffraction, optical microscopy, thermo-gravimetric analysis and nitrogen adsorption. Block-shaped crystals (BZ1) with various shapes and sizes were obtained at H
2
BDC:Zn mole ratio of 1:1 and H
2
BDC concentration of 0.1 M. At more dilute H
2
BDC concentration of 0.01 M and H
2
BDC:Zn mole ratio of 1 : 4, the reaction product was cubic crystals (BZ2) with a size of 250 μm. In the H
2
ABD system, flat-plate-like crystals (AZ1) were obtained at H
2
ABD:Zn mole ratio of 1 : 1 and H
2
ABD concentration of 0.01 M. Meanwhile, thick-block-like crystals (AZ2) were formed at the same H
2
ABD:Zn mole ratio but at 0.004 M H
2
ABD. The Langmuir surface area (S
Lang
) of the materials was remarkable, enhanced by diluting the reaction solution. For the compounds synthesized in N
,
N′-dimethylformamide (DMF), S
Lang
increased from 304.6 m
2
g
−1 for BZ1 to 2631 m
2
g
−1 for BZ2 and from 475.8 m
2
g
−1 for AZ1 to 3428 m
2
g
−1 for AZ2. Meanwhile, BZ2 synthesized in N
,
N′-diethylformamide (BZ2/DEF) got the highest S
Lang
of 4330 m
2
g
−1. Both AZ2 and BZ2 materials were stable up to 400 °C.
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