Construction and property investigation of three metal phosphates based on N-donor ligands

The reactions of N-donor ligands 2,2-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline with Cd(NO3)2·4H2O or Zn(NO3)2·3H2O in N,N′-dimethylacetamide in the presence of H3PO3 or H3PO4 lead to the formation of Cd(HPO3)2(bpy) (1), [Zn4(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2(phen)4][(NO3)2]·4DMA (2), Cd(H2PO3)(phen)2(NO3) (3) complexes. The structure of complex 1 consists of chains resulting from the “head to tail” connection of 8-membered Cd2O4P2 rings, with two “hanging” pyridine groups attached to each CdII center. Complex 2 comes into being through the alternating arrangement of [Zn4(HPO4)2(H2PO4)2(phen)4]2+ cationic layers and the anionic layers constructed by isolated nitrate groups and DMA molecules. In complex 3, two phenanthroline moieties, a nitrate group, and one H2PO3 fragment appending to CdII centers generate a supramolecular aggregate. Luminescent properties of all complexes have been investigated. In particular, we present a rare example that supermolecular complex 2 is used as luminescent probes to detect small molecules.