Hydrothermal synthesis, structure, and photoluminescence of four complexes based on 1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylate or 1H-imidazole-2-carboxylate ligands

Four complexes, [Ag4(bipy)2(Himdc)2(H2O)2]n (1), [Ag(H2imdc)]n (2), [K(H3imdc)(H2imdc)(H2O)2]n (3), and [Cu(Himc)2] (4) (H3imdc = 1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylic acid, H2imc = 1H-imidazole-2-carboxylic acid, and bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine), were hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and elemental analysis. The obtained complexes exhibit different coordination structures; 1 contains a 2-D supramolecular layer based on two chains arraying uniformly in an ABAB manner. Compound 2 displays sawtooth-shaped 1-D chains extending to 2-D layers via hydrogen bond interactions. Compound 3 possesses a 3-D framework structure based on a 1-D chain via hydrogen bonding interactions. Compound 4 has a 3-D framework structure bearing a pcu-type topology. In addition, the photoluminescence for 1 has been investigated.