Polycatenated bilayer motif constructed from flexible N, N′-bipyridyl and aromatic dicarboxylate ligands

A luminescent compound, [Cd (HO-BDC) (bpe)1.5]n (1 HO-H2BDC= 5-hydroxyisophthalic acid, bpe=1,2-bis (4-pyridyl) ethane), was hydrothermally synthesized. It features a 5-connected two-dimensional (2D) double layer motif. Interestingly, this 2D double layer motif is further interlocked with the neighboring ones in the parallel fashion, giving rise to the final three-dimensional (3D) polycatenated network. Moreover, the title compound exhibits intense yellow photoluminescence at room temperature.