The tripodal carboxylate ligand can be employed in Co(ii) salt/imidazole-containing ligand systems to generate 1D chain, 2D layer, and 2D to 3D network, and the fluorescence properties of 1–3 and magnetic behavior of 1 and 2 have been investigated.

Two new coordination polymers (CPs), [Zn(npba)2] (1) and [Cd(npba)2] (2), have been hydrothermally synthesized from Zn(NO3)2·6H2O/Cd(NO3)2·6H2O and 3-nitro-5-(pyridin-3-yl) benzoic acid (Hnpba). The products have been characterized by IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In CP 1, the four-coordinated Zn(II) centers are bridged by npba ligands to generate chains, which are connected through arene π–π stacking interactions to generate a layer structure. In CP 2, the six-coordinated Cd(II) centers are also bridged by npba ligands to form chains with similar connectivity. The photoluminescence properties of CPs 1 and 2 were studied.