Source of materialDisodium 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonate (0.33 g, 1m mol) and imidazole (0.27 g, 4mmol) were added to an aqueous solution of NiCl 2 × 6H 2 O(0.24 g, 1mmol). The resulting solution was stirred at 70°C for four hours in aw ater bath. After filtration, ac lear solution was set aside to crystallize. Plate-like blue crystals were collected in 78 %yield (based on Ni) after three days.
Experimental detailsHatoms were positioned geometrically and treated as riding, with (CH or NH). Water Hatoms were located on adifference Fourierm ap,a nd refined according to the riding model with
DiscussionSulfonate complexes have received much attention due to their potential application as functional materials [1,2]. Therefore, the efforts of many groups have produced ap lethora of sulfonate structural motifs. However, in comparison with other organic acidato anions such as carbonates and phosphonates,the weak coordination nature of SO 3 -makes its coordination mode very flexible and sensitive to the chemical environment [3]. We and others have demonstrated that the coordination behavior of arene-sulfonates with transition metals can be tailored by decorating the metal centers with other amino ligands. Indeed, after introducing other organic ligands as auxiliaries to the metal centers, sulfonate anions can compete with water molecules and coordinate with transition metals [4][5][6]. With the infinite number of organic ligands available, anovel research area opens up that could produce numerous materials with desirable connectivity and metrics. However, compared with pyridine and its derivatives, the use of imidazole for tailoring the coordination behavior of arenesulfonates with transition metals remains less well-explored. Due to the inherent coordination and hydrogen bonding donor/acceptor functionalities, imidazoles could be used in crystal engineering to construct extended networks sustained both by hydrogen bonds and coordination bonds. The asymmetric unit of the title crystal structure consists of one independent Ni 2+ cation, three coordinating imidazole molecules, three coordinating water molecules, two halves of naphthalene-2,6-disulfonate anions, and one lattice water molecule. The Ni(II) centre is coordinated by three imidazole nitrogen atomsw ith d(Ni-N) =2 .059(2) Å, 2.065(2) Å, and 2.066(2) Å, and three waterm olecules with d(Ni-O) rangingf rom2 .110(2)Åt o 2.138(2) Å, resulting in aslightly distorted octahedral geometry. In the crystal structure, the naphthalene-2,6-disulfonate anions have two different orientions, with one coplanar to the crystallographic (100) plane, and the other one to the (010) plane. This arrangement mayr esult in an overall closer-packing structure pattern. Furtheranalysis of thecrystal structure reveals that the titlecomplex adopts astructure in which layers of anions alternate with layers of cations. It is noted that the most dominant intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions are formed between the sulfonate oxygens and both coordinated and lattice water molecules, between the ...