The Catalytic Properties of a Copper-Based Nanoscale Coordination Polymer Fabricated by a Solvent-Etching Top-Down Route

Manipulating particle size is a powerful means of creating unprecedented applications in both inorganic and organic materials. Coordination polymers, which are emerging as a type of organic–inorganic hybrid materials, have attracted thriving interest in a variety of applications, but nanoscale coordination polymers have scarcely been touched. In this work, the pure-phase {Cu₆[1,4-bis(imidazol-1-yl)butane]₃I₆}_∞ coordination polymer with different sizes and morphologies was synthesized for the first time through a facile top-down route assisted by solvent etching. The size and morphology could be adjusted simply by varying the participating etching solvents. Our mechanistic investigations suggest that the bulk coordination polymer as a precursor in the etching solvents may experience a process of dispersion, dissolution, and recrystallization to generate the nanoscale counterpart. High catalytic activity of the nanoscale coordination polymer was observed in the N-arylation of imidazole aryl halides, and this was attributed to a high surface area and a low coordination number of unsaturated coordination sites. This simple and rapid preparation, requiring neither specialized equipment nor harsh conditions, suggests a wealth of potential for reducing the size of coordination polymers to comply with various practical applications.