Anion effect on the topological frameworks of a series of manganese coordination polymers based on 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-yl)-benzene: Syntheses, crystal structures and magnetic properties

•Six new MnII compounds have been synthesized.•Compounds 1–3 exhibit diverse interpenetrating frameworks.•Compounds 4 and 5 exhibit 3D packing porous architectures.•The tunable effect of counterion has been documented.•Magnetic properties of 6 have been studied by fitting the data.

In this work, the rod-like ligand 1,4-bis(imidazol-1-yl)-benzene (bib) has been utilized as a building block to perform counterion researches on the structural diversities of coordination polymers. A series of new manganese compounds, {[Mn(bib)3(ClO4)2](CHCl3)2}n (1), [Mn(bib)2(N3)2]n (2), [Mn(bib)2(HCO2)2]n (3), [Mn(bib)2(Ac)2]n (4), {[Mn(bib)2(CF3SO3)2](CH2Cl2)4}n (5), and [Mn(bib)2(SO4)]n (6) have been successfully synthesized. Compound 1 shows a 3D interpenetrating α-Po network only based on the bib linker. Compounds 2 and 3 exhibit a 2D (4,4) layer with parallel and incline interpenetration, respectively. Compounds 4 and 5 display a parallel-packing 2D (4,4) layer with the porosity of 23.4% and 61.4%, respectively. Compound 6 furnishes a 3D α-Po framework with a 2D (4,4) layer pillared by the μ2-SO42− ion. The structural diversities among 1–6 have been carefully discussed, and the roles of counterions (from coordination affinity and molecular size) in the self-assembly of coordination polymers have also been well documented. Furthermore, magnetic properties of 6 have been carefully studied.

Graphical abstractSix new compounds have been successfully synthesized. Structural studies reveal that the topology, entanglement and porosity are tunable by the counterion. Furthermore, the weak ferromagnetic coupling is conducted in 6.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide