Syntheses, structures and properties of two unusual silver-organic coordination networks: 1D -> 1D tubular intertwinement and existence of an infinite winding water chain

Two unusual metal-organic frameworks {[Ag-2(Hbtc)(bpy)(2)]center dot(H2O)(2)}(n) (1), {[Ag-3(btc)(bpy)(3)(H2O)]center dot(H2O)(7)}(n) (2) (H(3)btc = 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid, bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine) have been synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 features an infinite 1D -> 1D tubular intertwinement network, while complex 2 exhibits a double ladder structure which contains rare winding water chains. Both infinite 1D -> 1D tubular chains in complex 1 and double ladder in 2 are mutually interconnected by hydrogen bonding and pi ... pi stacking interactions into three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular networks. In addition, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescent behavior of the complexes have also been investigated.