Assembly of Zn II and Cd II coordination polymers with different dimensionalities based on the semi-flexible 3-(1 H -benzimidazol-2-yl)propanoic acid ligand.

Two new coordination polymers, namely, poly[[μ3 -3-(1 H -benzimidazol-2-yl)propionato]zinc(II)], [Zn(C10 H8 N2 O2 )] n , ( 1 ), and poly[bis-[μ2 -3-(1 H -benzimid-azol-2-yl)propionato]cadmium(II)], [Cd(C10 H8 N2 O2 )2 ] n , ( 2 ) have been synthesized from 3-(1 H -benzoimidazol-2-yl)propanoic acid ligands through a mixed-ligand synthetic strategy under a solvothermal environment, and studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 crystallizes in the ortho-rhom-bic space group Pbca and features a two-dimensional structure formed by a binuclear Zn2 O4 core. Complex 2 , however, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P 21 / c and forms a one-dimensional chain structure. The ZnII and CdII ions have different coordination numbers and the 3-(1 H -benzoimidazol-2-yl)propano-ate ligands display different coordination modes. The structures reported here show the importance of the selection of metal ions and suitable ligands.