LAUSR

Abstract An exploration of reactions of 1, 3-bis(1-imidazolyl)-5-(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene (biimb) and biphenyl-4, 4′-dicarboxylic acid (H2BPDC) with Co(II) and Mn(II) salts yielded four new coordination polymers [Co(biimb)(BPDC)(H2O)2]·DMA·10H2O (1), [Co(biimb)(BPDC)] (2), [Mn3(biimb)(BPDC)3(H2O)]·2DMF·0.7H2O (3) and [Mn(biimb)2(BPDC)]·2H2O (4) (DMA = N, N-dimethylacetamide, DMF = N, N-dimethylformamide). 1 has pillar-layered 3D structure without interpenetration and can selectively adsorb methyl orange dye molecules, while 2 is an interesting 5-fold interpenetrating 3D framework. 3 is a 3D net with [Mn3(COO)6] sub-units linked by BPDC2− and biimb ligands. Magnetic investigation revealed that there are antiferromagnetic interactions within the trinuclear sub-units in 3. In the case of 4, the coordination of Mn(II) with biimb gives 1D chain, which is further linked by BPDC2− resulting in formation of a 2D network. The structure diversity of 1–4 implies that the varied coordination modes of BPDC2− have remarkable impact in determining the structure and topology of the complexes.