(H2en)0.5[BiO(OH)2(H2O)]: The first organic templated layered bismuthate

A novel 2-D organic templated bismuth–oxygen compound (H2en)0.5[BiO(OH)2(H2O)] (1) (en = ethylenediamine) has been synthesized in the presence of ethylenediamine acting as a template under mild hydrothermal conditions. The structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction and further characterized by IR spectrum, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence and thermogravimetric analysis. In the compound, the Bi atom was coordinated by eight oxygen atoms. The BiO8 polyhedra share edges or corners with their neighbors to result in an anionic inorganic layer with protonated ethylenediamine cations occupied between layers. At ambient temperature, 1 shows a blue emission band which may be assigned to the 1P1–1S0 transitions of the s2 electron of the Bi3 + ion. To our knowledge, 1 is the first example of layered bismuthate templated by an organic amine.