Supramolecular cobalt cages and coordination polymers templated by anion guests: self-assembly, structures, and magnetic properties

We report the anion-templated syntheses of a variety of supramolecular assemblies of Co(II). Remarkably in the presence of a weakly coordinating ion such as BF(4) (-), a discrete three-dimensional cage [BF(4) subset(BF(4))(2)Co(2)(L(1))(4)][BF(4)] (2) is formed with three coordinated BF(4) (-) ions, a rare example in supramolecular chemistry (L(1)=di(benzimidazole)-1,4-phenylene). Switching to stronger coordinating ions, such as NO(3) (-) or Cl(-), a one-dimensional coordination polymer [[Co(L(1))(NO(3))(2)](n)] (3) and a metallomacrocycle [Co(2)(L(1))(2)(Cl)(4)] (5) were formed, respectively. These results illustrate the powerful effect of the anion-templating chemistry. Finally the magnetic properties of these assemblies 1 b, 2, 3, and 5 are presented and discussed.