An unusual four-nuclear Pb(II)-pyrrole-2-carboxylato polymer: The effect of the lone pair and non-covalent interactions on the supramolecular assembly and fluorescence properties

Abstract

The reaction of Pb(NO3)2 with 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid (2prCOOH) leads to the formation of a new four-nuclear Pb(II) polymer, [Pb4(2prCOO)8(H2O)]n, which has been characterized by CHN, FT-IR, TG, PL and single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. In view of the primary Pb–O bonds, Pb1 and Pb3 show hemidirected pentagonal pyramidal geometries, while Pb2 and Pb4 display hemidirected octahedral geometries. The topology of the strongest Pb–O bonds is determined as the (4·82) fes topology. Taking the secondary Pb–O bonds into account, the coordination number of Pb centres increased, Pb1 exhibited a hemidirected monocapped pentagonal pyramidal geometry, Pb2 and Pb4 exhibited a holodirected tricapped trigonal prismatic geometry, and Pb3 exhibited a holodirected bicapped trigonal prismatic geometry. Moreover, the Pb(II) lone pair stereoactivity was confirmed by DFT calculations. The 2D structure was expanded into 3D by the existence of non-covalent O/C–H···π and Pb···π interactions, which was confirmed by the Hirshfeld surface analysis. The above mentioned interactions improve the rigidity of the structure and facilitate the charge and energy transfer between metal centres, making the polymer a promising luminescent compound.