Syntheses, structures, photoluminescence of four dicarboxylate-controlled Zn(II) coordination complexes incorporating flexible 1-(4-pyridylmethyl)-benzimidazole ligand

Four Zn(II) coordination complexes, namely {[Zn(pmbm)2(tpa)]·H2O}n (1), {[Zn(pmbm)(phda)]·2(H2O)}n (2), [Zn(pmbm)(aze)]n (3), {[Zn(pmbm)(1,4-ndc)]·2(CH3OH)}n (4) [pmbm = 1-(4-pyridylmethyl)-benzimidazole, H2tpa = terephthalic acid, H2phda = phenylenediacetic acid, H2aze = azelaic acid, 1,4-ndcH2 = 1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid] have been synthesized by solution phase ultrasonic reactions of Zn(AC)2·2H2O with pmbm and various dicarboxylates ligands under the ammoniacal condition. All the complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra and X-ray diffraction. Complexes 1 and 2 exhibit one-dimensional chains structure and complex 3 and 4 are two-dimensional sheets structure with (4,4) topology. Complexes 1–4 spanning from one-dimensional chains to two-dimensional sheets suggest that dicarboxylates play significant roles in the formation of such coordination architectures. The photoluminescences of the complexes were also investigated in the solid state at room temperature.