Syntheses, structures, and photoluminescent properties of two silver (I) coordination polymers with 1, 4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl) benzene

•Two Ag(I) complexes have been synthesized.•They were used for IR spectroscopy, Photoluminescent and powder X-ray diffraction.•Complexes 1 and 2 exhibit fluorescence emissions at 443 nm and 472 nm.

The ultrasonic reactions of Ag2O with 1, 4-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl) benzene (bix) and ancillary carboxylate ligands under the ammoniacal condition lead to two new coordination compounds, namely [Ag4(bix)4(pma)·(H2O)18]n(1) and [Ag(bix)(onb)·H2O]n(2)(H4pma  = pyromellitic acid, Honb = o-nitrobenzoic acid). Both of the complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In complex 1, the Ag-bix 1D chains are connected with the 2D nets containing [Ag4(bix)2(pma)2] to form a 3D framework by Ag⋯Ag interaction. In complex 2, the coordination bonds link Ag(I) ions and bix ligands to form 1D chains which are extended into a 2D layer by inter-chain hydrogen bonds. The Ag⋯Ag interaction is also observed in 2. Moreover, the photoluminescence properties of the complexes were also investigated in the solid state at room temperature.