Novel coordination polymers and structural systematics in the hydrothermal M,M′trans-3(-3-pyridyl)acrylic acid system

The bifunctional ligand trans-3-(3-pyridyl)acrylic acid has been utilized to promote the formation of a novel hetero-metallic [Cu3(C8H6NO2)6Nd2(NO3)6] (1) and two homometallic: [Nd(C8H6NO2)3H2O] (2) and [Cu(C8H6NO2)2] x H2O (3) metal organic framework (MOF) materials. The philosophy here is that a mixture of hard (Nd3+) and softer metal cations will show preference for the carboxylic and pyridyl functional groups, respectively. As such, a 3-D topology 1 has emerged as a stable, heterometallic structure. Efforts to explore structural systematics in this system have led to the synthesis of homometallic end members and hence the formation of a 2-D coordination polymer 2, and a 1-D coordination polymer 3. Presented is an analysis of the effect of a second metal centre on coordination environment, overall structure formation, thermal and luminescence properties.