Synthesis, crystal structure and photocatalytic properties of two new coordination polymers based on flexible dicarboxylate and 1,1′-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole) ligands

Abstract

The assembly of 3,3ˊ-(1,2-phenylenebis(methyleneoxy)) dibenzoic acid (H2L) with CoII/CuII salts in presence of 1,1′-(1,4-butanediyl)bis(imidazole) (bbi) ancillary ligand generated two new coordination polymers (CPs) with formula [Co(L)(bbi)]n (1) and [Cu3(μ2-OH)2(L)2(bbi)]n (2). The crystallographic studies revealed that 1 exhibits 2D layer structure, while 2 displays 1D chain. The photocatalytic activities of title materials have been tested for the degradation of a model organic dye methyl violet (MV). The photocatalytic experimental results demonstrated that both 1 and 2 displayed efficient photocatalytic performances to degrade MV under UV irradiation. The mechanisms of these CPs for photocatalytic behaviour have been proposed.