Porous coordination polymers of diverse topologies based on a twisted tetrapyridylbiaryl: application as nucleophilic catalysts for acetylation of phenols.

Porous coordination polymers (CPs) with partially uncoordinated pyridyl rings based on rationally designed polypyridyl linkers are appealing from the point of view of their application as nucleophilic catalysts. A D2d -symmetric tetradentate organic linker L, that is, 2,2',6,6'-tetramethoxy-3,3',5,5'-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)biphenyl, was designed and synthesized for metal-assisted self-assembly aimed at porous CPs. Depending on the nature of the metal ion and the counter anion, the ligand L is found to function as a 3- or 4-connecting building block leading to porous CPs of diverse topologies. The reaction of L with Zn(NO3 )2 and Cd(NO3 )2 yields porous 2 D CPs of "fes" topology, in which the tetrapyridyl linker L serves as a 3-connecting unit with its free pyridyl rings well exposed into the pores. The functional utility of these porous CPs containing uncoordinated pyridyl rings is demonstrated by employing them as efficient heterogeneous nucleophilic catalysts for acetylation of a number of phenols with varying electronic properties and reactivities.