A novel alkaline earth strontium(II) coordination polymer: poly[hexaaquatetrakis(μ5‐pyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxylato)bis(μ4‐pyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxylato)(μ7‐sulfato)heptastrontium(II)]

The title compound, [Sr₇(C₇H₃NO₄)₆(SO₄)(H₂O)₆]_n, has been synthesized by an ionothermal method using the ionic liquid 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium ([Emim]Br) as solvent, and characterized by elemental analysis, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, IR and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The structure of the compound can be viewed as a three‐dimensional coordination polymer composed of Sr²⁺ cations, pyridine‐2,6‐dicarboxylate anions, sulfate anions and water molecules. The compound not only exhibits a three‐dimensional structure with a unique coordination mode of the sulfate anion, but also features the first example of a heptanuclear strontium(II) coordination polymer. The structure is further stabilized by O—H...O hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking interactions.