Complex interwoven polymeric frames from the self-assembly of silver(I) cations and sebaconitrile

Interesting interwoven polymeric frames have been obtained from the self-assembly of the flexible long-chain bidentate sebaconitrile (sebn, I,10-decanedinitrile) and different silver salts. Out of the eight products isolated and characterized, six present a metal-to-ligand ratio of 1:2 and contain interpenetrated three-dimensional (3D) or two-dimensional (2D) structural motifs, that is [Ag(sebn)(2)](BF4) (1), [Ag(sebn)(2)](ClO4) (2), [Ag(sebn)(2)](PF6) (3), [Ag(sebn)(2)](SbF6) (4), [Ag(sebn)(2)](AsF6) (5b) and [Ag(sebn)(2)](CF3SO3) (6b). The remaining two derivatives, [Ag(sebn)](AsF6) (5a) and [Ag(sebn)](CF3SO3) (6a), present one-dimensional (1D) polymeric chains. Depending on the counterions and on the conformation of the ligands, different frameworks are obtained. These include the eight-fold interpenetrated diamondoid frame of 1 and 2, the fourfold interwoven 3D four-connected frame topologically related to the prototypical SrAl2 of 3 and 5b, and the first example of an infinitely catenated 2D multiple layer in 4 and 6b. A unique example of self-organization of 1D chains, propagating in three directions to form a 3D entangled array, is observed in 5a.