Stepwise assembly of multidimensional Al-Pb based coordination polymers

The coordination chemistry of the main group elements has always been attractive. Present herein is a stepwise assembly approach toward multidimensional Al-Pb based crystalline compounds. [Al2Pb3(L)(2)(HL)(2)(mu(3)-OH)(2)](2)center dot 2Hdma center dot 2H(2)O center dot 2Cl (AlOC-48) and [AlPb2(L)(2)(mu(3)-OH)]center dot 3H(2)O (AlOC-49) (H3L = 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, Cat = catechol and dma = dimethylamine) represent the first examples of multidimensional Al-Pb based compounds. They are assembled through [Al-4(L)(4)(Cat)(2)]](4-) (Al-4, AlOC-13) polyanions and Pb ions. During the process of coordination assembly, metal site substitution occurs on the Al-4 precursors and transform into Al2Pb2 unit. AlOC-48 and AlOC-49 are two-dimensional and three-dimensional frameworks based on Al2Pb2 clusters. Moreover, the optical band gap and photocurrent response of these two compounds are studied.