Two novel entangled metal-organic networks constructed from 4,4′-bis(2-methylimidazol-1-ylmethyl)biphenyl and dicarboxylates: From polycatenated 2D + 2D → 3D framework to polyrotaxane-like 2D + 2D → 2D layerElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthetic and crystallographic details, additional measurements, figures and tables. CCDC reference numbers 880881 and 880882. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c2ce25706h

Two novel entangled metal-organic networks, namely [Cd(bmimbp)(bdc)] n ( 1 ) and [Zn(bmimbp)(tbtpa)] n ( 2 ) (bmimbp = 4,4′-bis(2-methylimidazol-1-ylmethyl)biphenyl, H 2 bdc = 1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid, H 2 tbtpa = tetrabromoterephthalic acid), exhibit a polycatenated 2D + 2D → 3D framework and a polyrotaxane-like 2D + 2D → 2D layer, respectively. Moreover, the thermal stabilities and photoluminescent properties are also discussed. Two novel entangled metal-organic mixed-ligand networks exhibit polycatenated 2D + 2D → 3D framework and polyrotaxane-like 2D + 2D → 2D layer.