The effects of increasing the length of the alkoxy substituent in 4′-alkoxy-4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridines when they are combined with cadmiumIJII) nitrate under conditions of room temperature crystallization and in the same cadmium : ligand (1 : 3) ratio have been investigated. The divergent ligand 4′-n-propoxy-4,2′:6′,4″terpyridine (2) reacts with CdIJNO 3 ) 2 ·4H 2 O to give ij{Cd 2 IJNO 3 ) 4 IJ2) 3 }·3CHCl 3 ] n in which the Cd atoms act as 3-connecting nodes and assemble into a (6,3) net with each ligand 2 linking adjacent Cd atoms. One of the three independent n-propoxy groups nestles into a cleft in the next 2-dimensional sheet; this 'tail-inpocket' interaction restricts the length of the alkyl chain that can be accommodated. Replacing the n-propoxy by an n-pentoxy, n-hexoxy or n-heptoxy substituent results in a switch from a (6,3) to (4,4) net;in ij{Cd 2 IJNO 3 ) 4 IJ3) 4 }·3CHCl 3 ] n (3 = 4′-n-pentoxy-4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridine) and ij{Cd 2 IJNO 3 ) 4 IJ4) 4 }·CHCl 3 ·MeOH] n (4 = 4′-n-hexoxy-4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridine), each Cd atom is a 4-connecting node with trans-nitrato ligands, while in ij{CdIJNO 3 ) 2 IJ5) 2 }·2MeOH] n (5 = 4′-n-heptoxy-4,2′:6′,4″-terpyridine) a cis-arrangement of nitrato ligands is observed. The reaction between CdIJNO 3 ) 2 ·4H 2 O and 4 was also investigated using a 1 : 1 ratio of reagents; this leads to the assembly of the 1-dimensional ladder ijCd 2 IJNO 3 ) 4 IJMeOH)IJ4) 3 ] n in which each Cd atom is a 3-connecting node. In each structure, face-to-face π-stacking of the central pyridine rings or of pyridine/phenyl rings of ligands in adjacent sheets or chains is a primary packing interaction; the role of van der Waals interactions as the chain length increases is discussed. Powder diffraction confirmed that each coordination polymer or network characterized by single crystal X-ray crystallography was representative of the bulk sample. The solid-state emission properties of ligands 2, 3 and 4and their coordination polymers are reported; the blue emission of the free ligands is red-shifted by up to 59 nm upon formation of the coordination networks, and quantum yields are in the range 11-22%. coordination sites 11 or sterically variable substituents (e.g. bulky 12 or long chain, 13,14 alkyl groups) that influence packing interactions and assembly motifs.Although strategies towards 2-and 3-dimensional networks are currently being developed using ditopic 4,2′:6′,4″tpy and its isomeric 3,2′:6′,3″-tpy linkers, 15,16 the coordination chemistry of 4,2′:6′,4″-tpy remains dominated by 1-dimensional chains. This preference can be modified by turning attention to the metal node. For example, linear {Zn 2 IJOAc) 4 } nodes (Scheme 1) combined with 4,2′:6′,4″-tpys CrystEngComm, 2015, 17, 6483-6492 | 6483This journal is