Assembly of three new POM-based Ag(I) coordination polymers with antibacterial and photocatalytic properties

•Three new silver coordination polymers have been synthesized under hydrothermal condition.•Due to different coordination modes of rigid N-donor ligands, structures of the title compounds vary from 0D to 3D frameworks.•It is noteworthy that nitration happens to compound 2 during the hydrothermal condition, which is quite rare.•In addition, these compounds exhibit efficiency of photocatalytic decomposition of dyes and antibacterial activities.

Three new silver coordination polymers, namely, {Ag3(bpy)6[PW12O40]} (1), {Ag5(H2biim)2(Hbiim-NO2)2[PW12O40]} (2), {Ag7(pytz)4[PW12O40]} (3) (bpy=2,2′-bipyridine, H2biim=2,2′-biimidazole, pytz=4-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)pyridine), have been synthesized under hydrothermal condition. Compound 1 shows a 3D supramolecular framework based on 0D moieties. Compound 2 exhibits an attractive 2D biologic screw axis. Compound 3 displays a 3D structure, which consists of Ag(I)···π interactions, π···π stacking and weak Ag···Ag interactions. It is noteworthy that nitration happens to compound 2 during the hydrothermal condition, which is quite rare. Through contrasting the antibacterial activities of gram negative and gram positive bacteria, we find compounds 1–3 have better antibacterial property in gram negative bacteria than gram positive bacteria. In addition, compounds 1–3 also exhibit efficiency of photocatalytic decomposition of organic dyes. Those compounds may be used as potential multifunctional materials in wastewater treatment, because they not only can kill bacteria but also degrade organic pollutants.

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