Hierarchical assembly of extended coordination networks constructed by novel metallacalix[4]arenes building blocks.

Five interesting metal-organic nanostructures and networks, Ni(4)(HL)(4)(bpy)(py)(H(2)O)(5) x 0.5 H(2)O (1), Co(4)(HL)(4)(bpy)(py)(H(2)O)(5) x 0.5 H(2)O (2), Ni(4)(HL)(4)(H(2)O)(7) x nH(2)O (3), Ni(4)(HL)(4)(bpy)(2)(H(2)O)(4) (4), and Cd(4)(HL)(4)(H(2)O) (5), were synthesized hydrothermally [H(3)L = 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-imidazole-4,5-dicarboxylate acid, py = pyridine, and bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine]. Intriguingly, all compounds consist of novel metallacalix[4]arene building blocks M(4)(HL)(4), where doubly deprotonated HL in the same bichelating fashion of mu-kN,N':kO,N'' displays a strong coordination orientation by cooperation of the 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylate and 2-pyridyl groups. Very interestingly, the symmetry of M(4)(HL)(4) and the linkage styles between metal nodes and HL in M(4)(HL)(4) are sensitive to the reaction conditions, and the resulting structural motifs vary with secondary ligands and metal nodes. In 1 and 2, two C(1)-symmetric M(4)(HL)(4) units are bpy-bridged into dimeric chiral nanomolecules with two different cavities. As deprotonated with NaOH, the combination of Ni(II) and HL forms a pseudo-S(4)- or S(4)-symmetric M(4)(HL)(4), which further assembles into 1D chiral crystals 3 or rare 3D crystals 4 of bpy-bridged 5-fold interpenetrating diamondoid architecture with metallacalix[4]arene building blocks as novel 4-connecting nodes, and the combination of Cd(II) and HL forms an 8-connected C(2)-symmetric M(4)(HL)(4) that fabricates the alpha-Po net of 5. Notably, those large M(4)(HL)(4) units are potentially highly connected building blocks in a hierarchical assembly of metal-organic networks. Magnetic studies disclose antiferromagnetic interactions in M(4)(HL)(4) of 1-4. The magnetic data for 1, 3, and 4, all containing isomeric Ni(4)(HL)(4) units, are analyzed by an equilateral quadrangle isotropic model combined with the molecular-field approximation with J = -4.00(2), -3.39(2), and -2.72(3) cm(-1), respectively, presenting a stronger comparison between the structure and magnetism. The emission of 5 is odd, which perhaps is relative to the bichelating fashion of ligand HL and a rare coordination geometry of Cd(II). Moreover, the thermal stability and gas sorption properties of these compounds were measured.