Syntheses and photocatalytic performances of four coordination complexes constructed from 1,10-phenanthroline and polycarboxylic acids

Four coordination complexes of copper(II) and iron(II), namely [CuCl(phen) 2 ](5-NO 2 -Hipa)·2H 2 O ( BUC-10 ), [Cu(phen)(3,4-H 2 dczpb)(H 2 O)]·H 2 O ( BUC-11 ), [Fe(phen)(L)(H 2 O)] 2 ( BUC-12 ), and [Fe(phen) 3 ](3,4-H 3 dczpb) 2 ·0.6H 2 O ( BUC-13 ) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; 5-NO 2 -H 2 ipa = 5-nitroisophthalic acid; 3,4-H 4 dczpb = 3,4-dicarboxyl-(3′,4′-dicarboxylazophenyl) benzene; L = 6,12-dihydroxy-1,2,6,12-tetrahydroindazolo[2,1-a]indazole-1,7-dicarboxylic acid), have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. All four complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, FTIR, elemental analysis and UV–Vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy. The photocatalytic performances of the complexes for decomposition of methylene blue under UV irradiation were also investigated.