A novel one‐dimensional zinc coordination polymer containing 4‐methylbenzoate and 4,4‐bipyridine

The title compound, catena‐polytris(μ‐4‐methylbenzoato)‐κ²O:O;κ⁴O:O′‐(4‐methylbenzoato‐κ²O,O′)dizinc(II)]‐μ‐4,4′‐bipyridine‐κ²N:N′], Zn₂(C₈H₇O₂)₄(C₁₀H₈N₂)]_n, is a novel coordination polymer. The asymmetric unit contains two unique Zn^II ions, four 4‐methylbenzoate ligands and one 4,4′‐bipyridine (4,4′‐bpy) ligand, all in general positions. The four 4‐methylbenzoate ligands link the two Zn^II centres to form a dinuclear unit, with a Zn...Zn separation of 3.188 (2) Å, which can be regarded as a supramolecular secondary building unit (SBU). These SBUs are further bridged by 4,4′‐bpy ligands, forming a novel one‐dimensional infinite chain. There are π–π stacking interactions between the benzene rings of the 4‐methylbenzoate ligands and the pyridyl rings of the 4,4′‐bpy ligands, leading to the formation of a corrugated layer. These layers are further assembled via C—H...O hydrogen bonds into a three‐dimensional supramolecular network structure. Coordination polymers such as the title compound are of interest for their potential applications as functional materials.