Crystal structures, magnetic, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of two copper(II) complexes with m-nitrobenzoic acid

Reactions of CuCl₂, m-nitrobenzoic acid (HNBA) and NaOH with 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) in aqueous ethanol afforded two Cu(II) complexes Cu(bpy)(NBA)₂, 1, and Cu(phen)(H₂O)₂(NBA)](NBA), 2. The monomolecular Cu(bpy)(NBA)₂ moieties are both bridged by hydrogen bonding interactions and interlayer π ^*–π ^*stacking interactions to form a 3D (3,4,6)-connected supramolecular architecture with the Schäfli symbol of (4⁴·6²)(4⁴·6⁶·8⁵)(6³)₂. Complex 2 crystallizes in a noncentrosymmetric space group P2₁ where all molecules show the same orientation along the polar b axis. Preliminary investigations suggest that 2 exhibits ferroelectric hysteresis loops at room temperature with remanent polarization (P _r) of ca. 0.09 μC cm^?2 and coercive electric fields of 2.53 kV cm^?1, respectively. It may be a potential ferroelectric with a relatively large spontaneous polarization (P _s) of 0.22 μC cm^?2. Furthermore, permittivity property measurements reveal a dielectric constant (ε _r) of 6.36. Variable-temperature (2–300 K) magnetic susceptibility measurements showed the presence of weak ferromagnetic interactions between the Cu(II) ions for both 1 and 2.