Metal ions and solvents ratio co-regulate four new magnetic coordination polymers based upon an unsymmetric tricarboxylate acid ligand.

Four new coordination polymers (CPs), [Co3(L)2(bib)3(EtOH)2]·2H2O (1), [Mn3(L)2(bib)2(H2O)4]·4H2O (2), [Ni(HL)(bib)(H2O)3] (3) and [Ni3(bib)4(H2O)10]·2(L)·12(H2O) (4), were synthesized under solvothermal conditions with an unsymmetrical tricarboxylic acid ligand [biphenyl-3,3',5-tricarboxylic acid (H3L)] in the presence of the 1,4-bis(1H-imidazol-4-yl)benzene (bib) ligand. In compound 1, tricarboxylate acid ligands (H3L) link Co centers to generate two-dimensional (2D) layers which are further connected by bib ligands to exhibit a three-dimensional (3D) framework with a (4,4,5)-connected (4(2)·6(3)·8)2(4(2)·6(7)·8)2(6(4)·8·10) topology. The three-dimensional (3D) framework of 2 is defined as a (3,3,4)-connected topology with the point symbol of (6·8(2))2(6(2)·8)2(8·10(4)·12). Compound 3 contains a one-dimensional (1D) left-hand helix chain along the a direction and further extends into a 2D supramolecular network and a 3D supramolecular framework via hydrogen bonds. Compound 4 displays a one-dimensional (1D) molecular ladder, which is further combined with each other through π···π stacking to extend into 2D supramolecular sheets. The supramolecular networks of 3 and 4 resulted from the different solvent ratios [V(H2O)-V(EtOH)] in the reaction. All the CPs are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, and TGA analyses. Moreover, the weak ferromagnetic properties of 2 and 3 and antiferromagnetic properties of 1 and 4 have also been investigated.