Bimetallic coordination polymers via combination of substitution-inert building blocks and labile connectors

A rational approach to the synthesis of silver-chromium mixed-metal coordination polymers is presented: 3-cyanoacetylacetone (HacacCN) features two potential binding sites. After deprotonation, it has been used as a chelating dionato ligand in the pseudo octahedral complex Cr(acacCN) 3; two polymorphs of this compound have been identified. In its protonated form, HacacCN was employed as a N donor toward Ag(I). Both functionalities may be exploited within the same solid: The chromium complex and silver salts of weakly coordinating anions have been successfully combined to mixed-metal coordination polymers. Cr(acacCN) 3 plays the role of a substitution-inert tecton with predictable bonding geometry which interacts with the conformationally soft silver cations via two or all three of its peripheric nitrile groups. From an equimolar amount of both constituents, six solids featuring a 1:1 ratio between Cr- and Ag-derived building blocks were obtained in good yield; their structures depend on the counteranions and the cocrystallized solvent and correspond either to 2D networks with (6,3) or augmented (4,4) topology or, in one case, adopt a 3D connectivity. In addition, three products with a Cr/Ag = 2:1 stoichiometry have been isolated: they adopt two-dimensional network structures.