Five new magnetic coordination frameworks
with formulas of {[Co2(HL)2(H2O)4]·4H2O}
n
(1), {[Ni2(HL)2(H2O)4]·4H2O}
n
(2), [Co(HL)(bpy)]
n
(3), [Co(HL)(pbim)]
n
(4), and [Ni(HL)(pbim)]
n
(5) [H3L = 2-(5-bromo-pyridin-3-yl)-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid, bpy = 4,4′-bipyridine,
and pbim = 1,1′-(5-methyl-1,3-phenylene)bis(1H-imidazole)] have been synthesized and structurally characterized
by elemental, thermogravimetric, and X-ray diffraction analyses. In
all compounds, the doubly deprotonated (HL)2– ligands
adopt the same μ-kN,O:kN′,O′
coordination mode, showing very interesting coordination orientation
in the construction of those coordination polymers. Complexes 1 and 2 feature (HL)2–-bridged
linear chain structures. Complex 3 is a 2D network with
(4,4) grids built up from the (HL)2–-bridged linear
chains observed in 1 being further linked by rod-like
bpy bridges replacing the coordination of water molecules. Those almost
or completely linear chains formed by the bis-N,O-chelation of the imidazoledicarboxylate of (HL)2– in 1–3 are rarely observed in the
complexes of 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylic acid and its derivatives, giving
a typical structure model to investigate the magnetic exchange-coupling
mediated by imidazoledicarboxylate. Isostructural complexes 4 and 5 are 2D helicates where (HL)2–-bridged left- and right-handed helixes are doubly linked into the
mesolayer structures with 63 topology through the further
coordination of angular spacers pbim. Remarkably, the formation of
(HL)2–-bridged linear chains or helical chains is
mainly dependent on the trans- or cis-chelation of two (HL)2– ligands around the same
metal center, which could be finely tuned by the structural features
of auxiliary ligands used. Magnetostructural analyses disclose that
the bis-N,O-chelating imidazoledicarboxylates
of (HL)2– transmit antiferromagnetic interactions
along the (HL)2–-bridged metal–organic chains
with the spin-coupling constants of −4.89, −17.8,–6.55,
−7.35, and −19.6 cm–1 for 1–5, respectively. Notably, the μ-kN,O:kN′,O′ coordination
mode of (HL)2– ligand dominates the assembly of
metal–organic frameworks as well as the magnetic exchange between
the paramagnetic ions in those magnetic chains, but the magnetic exchange-coupling
depends strongly on the nature of the metal center.