Coordination polymers assembled from semirigid fluorene-based ligand: A couple of enantiomers

A couple of Mg(II)-based coordination polymer enantiomers [MgL(DMF)(H₂O)₃]_n (R-MgL and S-MgL), and a Zn(II)-based coordination polymer [ZnL(DMF)]_n (ZnL) have been synthesized by the solvothermal reactions between the achiral ligand 4,4′-(9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluorene-2,7-diyl)dibenzoic acid (H₂L) and the corresponding metal salts. The MgL was obtained as the racemic conglomerate from the one pot reaction. The single crystal X-ray structural analyses reveal that MgL crystallize in the chiral space group P2₁ and possesses the right- or left-handed homochiral 1D Mg-O-C helical chain. The ZnL crystallize in the non-centrosymmetrical space group Aba2 and possesses the 2D network comprised of 1D Zn-O-C meso-helical chains and ligands. The MgL and ZnL complexes exhibit strong coordination-perturbed ligand-centered blue emissions when excited at 320 nm. Their second-order nonlinear optical effects and thermal properties have also been studied.