Biomass-derived rctt-3,4-di-2-furanyl-1,2-cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid: a polytopic ligand for synthesizing green metal-organic materials

Biomass is an abundant and environmentally friendly source for materials that can be used in a multitude of applications in the effort to replace petrochemicals. Furfural and malonic acid are biomass-sourced platforms that can be utilized in the synthesis of biobased compounds; rctt-3,4-di-2-furanyl-1,2-cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid (CBDA-2) is one such compound. In this study, CBDA-2 has been introduced into metal-organic materials chemistry as a semi-rigid polytopic ligand. This compound has been utilized as a polytopic ligand in the formation of two different 2D coordination polymers with Cu2+ and Co2+ as the metal centers via a conventional solution method. Both complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystal structure determination and showed visual thermochromic behaviors. This study demonstrates that CBDA-2 is a promising green building block in coordination chemistry.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that CBDA-2 is a promising green building block in coordination chemistry, as it can be used as a polytopic ligand to form 2D coordination polymers with Cu2+ and Co2+ metal centers. The complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystal structure determination and exhibit visual thermochromic behaviors.