Four new tetrazole–carboxylate ligands have been reacted with zinc salts, resulting in the formation of four compounds with enhanced luminescence properties and structures that are controlled by the number, different coordination modes and substitution of the ligands.

Reactions of Hpymtza [Hpymtza = 5-(2-pyrimidyl)tetrazole-1-acetic acid] with MnCl 2 ·4H 2 O under different pH conditions, afforded the complexes [Mn(pymtza) 2 (H 2 O) 4 ](1) and [Mn 2 (pymtza) 2 Cl 2 (EtOH)]·H 2 O (2). The compounds were structurally characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 shows a mononuclear structure, whereas complex 2 has a 1D chain structure. In compound 1, the 1948 pymtza ligand only acts in a monodentate manner to coordinate to one central Mn II atom by one carboxylate atom, In 2, pymtza acts as tetradentate ligand to connect three Mn II ions. Compounds 1 and 2 display 3D networks by hydrogen bonding interactions. Furthermore, the luminescence properties of Hpymtza as well as compounds 1 and 2 were investigated at room temperature in the solid state.