Self-assembly of three 1-D zinc-benzenedicarboxylate coordination polymers with 1,10-phenanthroline

Three zinc(II) benzenedicarboxylate coordination polymers, {ZnII(L1)(phen)(H2O)}n (1), {[ZnII(L2)(phen)]2}n (2), and {[ZnII(L3)(phen)(H2O)]}n (3) (L1 = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic dianion, L2 = 1,3-benzenedicarboxylic dianion, L3 = 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic dianion, and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), have been synthesized by self-assembly. Structural analyses of 1-3 reveal that the compounds are one-dimensional (1-D) chains. However, the structural motifs for 1-3 are distinct from each other, where 1 forms 1-D zig-zag chains, 2 is in 1-D ladder-like motif, and 3 is a 1-D helical form. Compounds 1-3 exhibit photoluminescence with emission maxima at ca 371, 392, and 375 nm, respectively.