A heterofunctional ligand approach for the preparation of high connectivity coordination polymers: combining a "bridge" and "pillar" in one ligand

Two of the most successful strategies for the preparation of three-dimensional coordination polymers and MOFs are reticular synthesis and pillaring. Here we present a new approach which combines aspects of both of these by employing a heterofunctional dicarboxylic and dipyridyl ligand, 2,5-di(pyridin-4-yl)terephthalic acid (H 2 L ). The reaction of H 2 L with zinc( ii ) produces a non-interpenetrated 3D coordination polymer [Zn L (H 2 O)] n . A new strategy that combines the design elements of reticular synthesis and pillaring is proposed.