Synthesis, luminescence and gas absorption of a new polythreading coordination polymer

A new compound of {[Zn(btb)(Hbib)]·2H2O·CH3OH}n (H3btb = 1,3,5-benzenetrisbenzoate and bib = 1,4-bis(2-methyl-imidazol-1-yl)butane) was synthesized and characterized. The coordination polymer shows a new (2D → 3D) polythreaded array that is obtained from the self-assembly of adjacent 2D layers with dangling lateral arms, in which each large hexagonal void of one layer is threaded by two dangling lateral arms of two adjacent layers belonging to two identical spatial orientations. The luminescence study indicates that the title compound emits bright red fluorescence compared to the free ligand at room temperature. In addition, the small-sized and non-polar pores do not enable 1 to attract CO2 and N2 strongly, which can be confirmed by the computational method based on Connollyʹs algorithm.