A perfectly linear trinuclear zinc–Schiff base complex: Synthesis, luminescence property and photocatalytic activity of zinc oxide nanoparticle

•Synthesis and characterization of a zinc(II)–Schiff base complex.•Both ligand and complex show good fluorescence properties in solution.•Synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanoparticle by pyrolytic method.•ZnO nanoparticle as photocatalytic agent to degrade methylene blue.

A perfectly linear trinuclear zinc(II) complex [Zn3L2(μ-O2CCH3)2] (1) containing a (N,O)-donor Schiff base ligand, (H2L = N,N′-bis(salicyaldehydene)-1,3-diaminopropan-2-ol) has been synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction study. The X-ray crystal structure of 1 contains three zinc(II) centers which are inter-connected through μ2-phenolato and μ-acetato bridges. The terminal zinc centers are in square pyramid geometry and central zinc ion is in distorted octahedral coordination geometry. Both H2L and 1 exhibit good fluorescence properties in solution. 1 has been used as a precursor to fabricate zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) by pyrolytic method. ZnONP has been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), FT-IR spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy techniques. ZnONP has been employed as photocatalytic agent to degrade the organic dye, viz. Methylene blue under visible light and by exposing to visible light for 1 h, ZnONP degraded methylene blue dye nearly 80%.

Graphical abstractA perfectly linear trinuclear zinc(II) complex [Zn3L2(μ-O2CCH3)2] (1) containing a (N,O)-donor Schiff base ligand has been synthesized and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction study. Both the ligand and complex exhibit strong fluorescence. The fabricated ZnONP has been employed as photocatalytic agent to degrade methylene blue under visible light and by exposing to visible light for 1 h, the ZnONPs degraded the dye nearly 80%.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide