Syntheses and structures of two photofluorescent infinite one-dimensional chains from assembly of tetradentate dipyridyl ligand with cadmium(II) and silver(I) salts

A new flexible tetradentate ligand 1,2-bis(3′-pyridylmethylamino)ethane (L) was synthesized and its coordination complexes with cadmium(II) and silver(I) salts were characterized by X-ray single crystal structure analysis. The structure of [Cd(L)](NO3)2·H2O (1) is an infinite zigzag chain in which the Cd(II) atom is octahedrally coordinated with N4O2 donor set. The complex [Ag3(L)2](CF3SO3)3 (2) has a different 1D chain structure, interestingly, containing two- and three-coordinated silver(I) atoms. The photofluorescence and electrospray mass spectrometry of complexes 1 and 2 were also investigated.