Thermally triggered solid-state single-crystal-to-single-crystal structural transformation accompanies property changes.

The 1D complex [(CuL0.5H2O)⋅H2O]n (1) (H4L = 2,2'-bipyridine-3,3',6,6'-tetracarboxylic acid) undergoes an irreversible thermally triggered single-crystal-to-single-crystal (SCSC) transformation to produce the 3D anhydrous complex [CuL0.5]n (2). This SCSC structural transformation was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns, variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction (VT-PXRD) patterns, and IR spectroscopy. Structural analyses reveal that in complex 2, though the initial 1D chain is still retained as in complex 1, accompanied with the Cu-bound H2O removed and new O(carboxyl)-Cu bond forming, the coordination geometries around the Cu(II) ions vary from a distorted trigonal bipyramid to a distorted square pyramid. With the drastic structural transition, significant property changes are observed. Magnetic analyses show prominent changes from antiferromagnetism to weak ferromagnetism due to the new formed Cu1-O-C-O-Cu4 bridge. The catalytic results demonstrate that, even though both solid-state materials present high catalytic activity for the synthesis of 2-imidazolines derivatives and can be reused, the activation temperature of complex 1 is higher than that of complex 2. In addition, a possible pathway for the SCSC structural transformations is proposed.