Incongruent Melting and Vitrification Behaviors of Anionic Coordination Polymers Incorporating Ionic Liquid Cations

Several meltable coordination polymers (CPs) that possess substantial advantages attributable to their high flexibility and processability have been developed recently; however, the melting mechanism and vitrification conditions of these materials are not yet fully understood. In this study, we synthesized meltable CPs [A] [K(TCM)(2)] (A = onium cation, TCM = C(CN)(3)(-)) incorporating ionic liquid components and investigated their crystal structures and melting behaviors in detail. These CPs feature two- or three-dimensional anionic [K(TCM)(2)](n)(-) frameworks incorporating onium cations. Each CP was found to undergo incongruent melting at a temperature between 73 and 192 degrees C to produce a heterogeneous mixture of the ionic liquid ([A][TCM]) and microcrystalline K[TCM]. Furthermore, they formed homogeneous liquids upon further heating to similar to 240 degrees C. The melting points of these CPs were linearly correlated with those of their constituent ionic liquids. The vitrification of these materials upon rapid cooling from the molten state was further investigated. The cooling rates required for vitrification differed greatly between the CPs and were correlated with the cation flexibility.