A novel three‐dimensional copper(I) cyanide coordination polymer constructed from various bridging ligands: synthesis,crystal structure and characterization

The cyanide ligand can act as a strong σ‐donor and an effective π‐electron acceptor that exhibits versatile bridging abilities, such as terminal, μ₂‐C:N, μ₃‐C:C:N and μ₄‐C:C:N:N modes. These ligands play a key role in the formation of various copper(I) cyanide systems, including one‐dimensional (1D) chains, two‐dimensional (2D) layers and three‐dimensional (3D) frameworks. According to the literature, numerous coordination polymers based on terminal, μ₂‐C:N and μ₃‐C,C,N bridging modes have been documented so far. However, systems based on the μ₄‐C:C:N:N bridging mode are relatively rare. In this work, a novel cyanide‐bridged 3D Cu^I coordination framework, namely poly(μ₂‐2,2′‐biimidazole‐κ²N³:N^3′)(μ₄‐cyanido‐κ⁴C:C:N:N)(μ₂‐cyanido‐κ²C:N)dicopper(I)], Cu₂(CN)₂(C₆H₆N₄)]_n, (I), was synthesized hydrothermally by reaction of environmentally friendly K₃Fe(CN)₆], CuCl₂·2H₂O and 2,2′‐biimidazole (H₂biim). It should be noted that cyanide ligands may act as reducing agents to reduce Cu^II to Cu^I under hydrothermal conditions. Compound (I) contains diverse types of bridging ligands, such as μ₄‐C:C:N:N‐cyanide, μ₂‐C:N‐cyanide and μ₂‐biimidazole. Interestingly, the Cu₂] dimers are bridged by rare μ₄‐C:C:N:N‐mode cyanide ligands giving rise to the first example of a 1D dimeric {Cu₂(μ₄‐C:C:N:N)]ⁿ⁺}_n infinite chain. Furthermore, adjacent dimer‐based chains are linked by μ₂‐C:N bridging cyanide ligands, generating a neutral 2D wave‐like (4,4) layer structure. Finally, the 2D layers are joined together via bidentate bridging H₂biim to create a 3D cuprous cyanide network. This arrangement leads to a systematic variation in dimensionality from 1D chain→2D sheet→3D framework by different types of bridging ligands. Compound (I) was further characterized by thermal analysis, solid‐state UV–Vis diffuse‐reflectance and photoluminescence studies. The solid‐state UV–Vis diffuse‐reflectance spectra show that compound (I) is a wide‐gap semiconductor with band gaps of 3.18 eV. The photoluminescence study shows a strong blue–green photoluminescence at room temperature, which may be associated with metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer.