Anion control in the ionothermal synthesis of coordination polymers

Two anionic 3D coordination frameworks (EMIm)(2)[Co-3(TMA)(2)(OAc)(2)] 1 and (EMIm)[Co(TMA)] 2, one condensed hydroxide network [Co-5(OH)(2)(OAc)(8)](H2O)(x) 3, and one 2D layer compound (EMIm)[Co-2(TMA)(4)H-7(22bpy)(2)] 4 were prepared from three relevant ionic liquids of 1-ethyl 3-methyl imidazolium bromide (EMIm-Br), EMIm bistriflamide (EMIm-Tf2N), and mixtures of the two. The use of anions in ionic liquids plays a significant role in solvent polarity/hydrophibicity, which in turn controls the structures of materials formed in the ionothermal synthesis. The use of mixed anion ionic liquids opens up many possibilities to further tailor the properties of ionic liquids for ionothermal synthesis applications. The ionic liquid anions are not incorporated into the resultant materials.