Syntheses, structures and properties of two unusual silver-organic coordination networks: 1D→1D tubular intertwinement and existence of an infinite winding water chain.

Two unusual metal-organic frameworks {[Ag(2)(Hbtc)(bpy)(2)]·(H(2)O)(2)}(n) (1), {[Ag(3)(btc)(bpy)(3)(H(2)O)]·(H(2)O)(7)}(n) (2) (H(3)btc = 1,2,3-benzenetricarboxylic acid, bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine) have been synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 features an infinite 1D→1D tubular intertwinement network, while complex 2 exhibits a double ladder structure which contains rare winding water chains. Both infinite 1D→1D tubular chains in complex 1 and double ladder in 2 are mutually interconnected by hydrogen bonding and π···π stacking interactions into three-dimensional (3D) supramolecular networks. In addition, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photoluminescent behavior of the complexes have also been investigated.