New Copper Coordination Polymers Derived from p- and o-BIMB via Different Reaction Approaches: Toward the Effects of Isomeric Ligands (BIMB = Bis-(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene)

To have an insight into the performance of chemically homogeneous but geometrically different isomeric ligands in constructing coordination polymers, two xylene-functionalized N-donors, specifically, p-BIMB and o-BIMB (BIMB = bis-(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene), were treated, in parallel, with CuCN and KI under solvothermal conditions and with CuCl2 and NaN3 in layer diffusion, thereby affording four new coordination polymers with dimensions from 1D to 3D. In particular, the cuprous [Cu-2(CN)(2)(p-BIMB)](n) (1) is structured as a 3D framework showing an unprecedented bimodal (8 x 10(2))(8(5),10)(2) topology and [Cu-2(CN)(2)(o-BIMB)](n) (2) as an undulated sheet based on a (CuCN)(n) network and the cupric {[Cu(N-3)(2)(p-BIMB)(2)](H2O)(2)}(n) (3) is assembled as a 3D polycatenated Framework based on the inclined interpenetrating (4,4) nets and [Cu(N-3)(2)(o-BIMB)(2)](n) (4) as a metal-fused ring catenation. The assemblies of 1-4 are of note for revealing a law that. the polymers, comparably derived from two isomeric ligands, are similar in metal coordination but structurally are different. In addition, the responses of 1 and 2 to heat and light reveal that the properties of comparably synthesized compounds are affected by the structural diversity brought by ligand isomerization.