A new zinc(II) coordination compound of meta-aminobenzoate and 4,4′-bipyridine with broad-band photoluminescence emission

Abstract

A new coordination compound with a 1-D chain-like structure, [ZnL2(4,4′-bipy)]n (L=meta-aminobenzoate; 4,4′-bipy=4,4′-bipyridine), has been hydrothermally prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, elemental analysis, and photoluminescence determination. The obtained yellow prismatic crystal belongs to triclinic space group P1¯ with a=7.9053(16), b=11.664(2), c=12.404(3)Å, α=98.25(3), β=95.54(3), γ=103.08(3)°, Z=2, R1=0.0439 and wR2=0.0757. The 1-D chain contains rarely both μ-N,O-bridging bidentate and non-bridging monodentate coordination modes of L ligands, and they are consolidated by N–H···O, N–H···N, and C–H⋯π hydrogen bonds as well as π⋯π stacking interactions to yield a 3-D supramolecular network. The title compound exhibits a very broad emissive band (λem,max=520nm) when illuminated by 370nm light, where the high-energy and low-energy components are tentatively ascribed to ligand-centered and interligand transition, respectively, on the basis of experimental and theoretical data. This work may shed light on the design and synthesis of white-light-emitting coordination compounds.