Syntheses, structures, photoluminescence, and theoretical studies of d(10) metal complexes of 2,2'-dihydroxy-[1,1']binaphthalenyl-3,3'-dicarboxylate.

The free solvated ligand, H(2)bna.CH(3)OH.H(2)O (1), and its dimeric complex, [Cd(2)(bna)(2)(H(2)O)(6)] (2) (bna = 2,2'-dihydroxy-[1,1']-binaphthalene-3,3'-dicarboxylate), were obtained by evaporation of the solutions, while two new d(10) metal-hydroxy cluster-based coordination polymers, namely [Cd(8)(OH)(4)(H(2)O)(10)(bna)(6)].17H(2)O (3) and Hpy[Zn(4)(OH)(2)(H(2)O)(2)(bna)(4)].2H(2)O.2CH(3)CN (4), were obtained by a hydrothermal route. All the compounds have been characterized by X-ray crystallography and photoluminescence measurements. Compound 1 consists of a three-dimensional, hydrogen-bonded supramolecular array, 2 exhibits a dimeric molecule featuring a square motif organized by two Cd(II) atoms and two bna ligands each at the corner, and 3 contains unprecedented Cd(8)(micro(3)-OH)(2)(micro-OH)(2)(micro-H(2)O)(2) octanuclear metallacrown cores which are interlinked through bna to afford a two-dimensional structure, while 4 features layers with butterfly-shaped Zn(4)(micro(3)-OH)(2) clusters. All the complexes display photoluminescent properties in the blue/green range. The manifestation of photoluminescence, as probed by molecular orbital calculations performed on the complexes and also on hypothetical multinuclear complexes, is attributed to a ligand-to-metal charge-transfer mechanism. In addition to presenting a new approach for the study of the photoluminescent properties of metal-cluster-based coordination polymers by using simple model compounds, the study also reveals the dominant role of the structure of the ligand over that of the d(10) metal-hydroxy (or oxy) cluster and the presence of the cluster significantly increasing the emission lifetime.