Four new coordination polymers based on multinuclear Cu(I) halide clusters and 1,3-bis(imidazol-1-yl-methyl)-benzene

The reactions of 1,3-bis(imidazol-1-yl-methyl)-benzene (mbix) with CuX (X = I, Br) produced four 1D and 2D coordination polymers, namely [(Cu4I4)(mbix)2]n (1), [(Cu2I2)(mbix)2]n (2), [(Cu3Br3)(mbix)]n (3) and [(Cu3I3)(mbix)]n (4). The structures of 1 and 2 consist of clusters of (Cu4I4) cubanes and (Cu2I2) dimers, respectively, while 3 and 4 possess unprecedented linked incomplete cubane-like (Cu3X3)n (X = Br for 3 and X = I for 4) chains. Compounds 1–4 have been structurally characterized and their luminescent properties have also been studied.