Cobalt Coordination Polymers Offering Hydrogen Bonding Cavities as Efficient Catalysts for Coupling Reactions

Abstract

This work presents the synthesis and characterization of two cobalt‐based coordination polymers (CPs) prepared by using two positionally related pyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxamide fragment‐based ligands containing appended arylcarboxylic acid groups. While arylcarboxylate groups of ligands coordinate to the Co(II) ions to produce 2D CPs; the amidic N‐H groups remain free and generate large cavities lined with hydrogen bonds. Such hydrogen bonding cavities were found to reversibly adsorb molecular iodine. The Lewis acidic Co(II) ions and metal‐coordinated labile solvent molecules promoted noteworthy heterogeneous catalysis for Friedel crafts reactions as well as multicomponent condensation reactions.