A highly rare (3,4,5,6)-connected metal–organic framework containing three distinct Co2 secondary building units

Via solvothermal reaction of CoCl2 with H3BTC (1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid) in DMF–C2H5OH, a new metal–organic framework (MOF) was isolated. The single crystal X-ray diffraction suggests that the asymmetric unit contains six crystallography-independent Co(II) ions and four deprotonated BTC3− ligands, and the overall structure of it is a 3D microporous framework with three-dimensional intersecting channel. Further topological analysis reveals a highly rare (3, 4, 5, 6)-connected net.