Blue-Emitting 2D- and 3D-Zinc Coordination Polymers Based on Schiff-Base Amino Acid Ligands

The solvothermal reaction of Zn(NO3)2·4H2O, 1-OH-2-naphthaldehyde, and 2-methylalanine (mAla) in MeOH leads to the formation of complex {[ZnL1]}2n (1) (H2L1 = the Schiff-base resulting from the reaction of 1-OH-2-naphthaldehyde and mAla) in good yields. The structure of the neutral species, as determined by single-crystal crystallography, describes a two-dimensional coordination polymer, with repeating {Zn2} units bridged by syn, anti-carboxylate groups of the Schiff-base ligands. Repeating the same reaction using glycine (gly) instead of mAla leads to the formation of complex {[ZnL2]·0.33MeOH}3n (2.0.33MeOH) (H2L2 = the Schiff-base resulting from the reaction of 1-OH-2-naphthaldehyde and gly), again in good yields. Complex 2 describes a three-dimensional coordination polymer based on {Zn2} building blocks, arranged by anti, anti-carboxylate groups in a 3D motif. Complexes 1 and 2 were found to strongly emit at ~435 nm (λexc = 317 nm) both in solution and solid state, with complex 2 displaying a slightly longer lifetime of τav = 2.45 ns vs. τav = 2.02 ns for 1.