Multinuclear coordination compounds constructed by bis-imidazole and azide ligands. Creation of new network structures and an M2L4 cage that includes two anions

Abstract Treatment of the bis-imidazole ligand, bitb, with CuSO4·5H2O, ZnSO4·7H2O, and Co(NO3)2·6H2O in the presence of NaN3 produced [Cu2(μ-N3)2(bitb)(N3)2]n (1), [Zn(bitb)(N3)2]n (2), and [(N3)2 ⊂ Co2(bitb)4(N3)2](Me2CO)2·(H2O)4 (3). Compound 1 is a 2D coordination polymer with {Cu2(μ-N3)2}n chains in the framework. Compound 2 is a 1D coordination polymer with repetitions of the “figure-of-eight-shaped” turns. Compound 3 is an M2L4 cage compound that includes 2 N3− in the cage. Their unprecedented coordination structures are described.