Observation of helical water chains reversibly inlayed in magnesium imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylate

A helical water chain, reversibly inlayed in a magnesium imidazole-4,5-dicarboxlylate, was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, as well as temperature-variable Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction techniques.