Four silver-based coordination polymers,
{[Ag(L)2](BF4)}∞ (1), {[Ag(H2BTC)(L)]·(H3BTC)}∞ (2), {[Ag2(H2BTEC)(L)2]·3.33H2O}∞ (3), and
[Ag(H25SSA)(L)]∞ (4), were
synthesized using
thiomorpholine-4-carbonitrile (L) as the primary ligand and three
aromatic polyoxoacids as coligands: trimesic (H3BTC), pyromellitic
(H4BTEC), and 5-sulfosalicylic acid (H35SSA).
Compounds 1 and 3 are two-dimensional, while 2 and 4 are one-dimensional. L acts as a bis-monodentate
ligand, while the Ag(I) ion is three-coordinated in 2 and four-coordinated in all of the other compounds. The tetrahedral
coordination of Ag(I) in 3 leads to an almost complete
absence of intermolecular interactions with the metal center. All
compounds show reasonable photocatalytic activity for photocatalytic
degradation of mordant blue 9 dye, with reaction rates in the 0.036–0.056
min–1 range. Changes in the reaction rates can be
correlated with the type and coordination of the coligand. Complex 3 exhibits photoluminescence at 77 K, while 4 exhibits photoluminescence at both room temperature and 77 K. Luminescence
lifetimes indicate electronic transitions of singlet parentage, where
transitions are allowed. A TD-DFT study determined the contributions
of individual singlet–singlet electronic excitations to the
fluorescence, indicating that metal– intraligand transitions
are responsible for luminescence in both complexes.