Influence of organic and alkali metal cations over a crystal lattice of the benzenetrihydroxy trisulfonate ligand†

A crystallographic investigation of the 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzene-1,3,5-trisulfonic acid ligand (H₆L) with various cations was conducted. The melamine adduct exhibited an H-bonded three-dimensional lattice (1), guanidine incorporation resulted in the formation of a two-dimensional (2D) layer (2) with unusual loss of aromaticity of the ligand and reaction with potassium ion afforded a three-dimensional (3D) network (3) with channels that possessed an H-bonded water chain. The proton conductivity of 3 was 2.61 × 10⁻⁷ S cm⁻¹ at room temperature, indicating its potential application in proton-conducting materials.