Varying the frameworks of coordination polymers with (CuI)4 cubane cluster by altering terminal groups of thioether ligands

Two Cu(I) coordination architectures, [(CuI)4(L1)2]n (1) and [(CuI)4(L2)1.5]n (2) with two structurally related flexible dithioether ligands, 1,4-bis(ethylsulfanyl)butane (L1) and 1,4-bis(benzylsulfanyl)butane (L2) have been synthesized and structurally characterized by element analysis and X-ray diffraction. In both complexes, (CuI)4 cubane cluster acts as a secondary building unit and dithioether ligands as a ditopic bridge to generate two distinct frameworks. 1 has a two-dimensional (4,4) network, while 2 is a three-dimensional framework with rare 4(6).6(4) topology, being the first example in (CuI)4 complexes. The difference of frameworks can be attributed to the variation of the terminal groups of the two ligands.