A Functional Electrocatalyst of Coordination Polymer Derived from Di-nuclear Nickel(II)-Glycine Cations and Wells–Dawson Polyoxoanions

Abstract

A new organic–inorganic hybrid, namely [Ni2(en)4(C2H3NO2)(H2O)][Ni(en)3][Ni(en)2][P2W18O62]·6H2O (1, en = 1,2-ethylenediamine), was synthesized hydrothermally by mixing the ligands of 1,2-ethylenediamine and glycine. Notably, compound 1 exhibits the first example of coordination polymer derived from the Wells–Dawson polyoxoanions and di-nuclear nickel(II)-glycine cations. As a result, an intriguing 3D supramolecular architecture was fabricated with the [P2W18O62]6− fragments and the nickel counter-cations via hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, the compound with this unique structure exhibited outstanding electrocatalytic properties in terms of the reduction of iodate and nitrite. This work brings a new inspiration for the design and synthesis of new hybrids with functional behaviors towards various fields of catalysis.