Syntheses,structures and characterization of isomorphous CoII and NiII coordination polymers based on 2‐[(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)methyl]‐6‐methyl‐1H‐benzimidazole and benzene‐1,4‐dicarboxylate

Careful choice of the organic ligands is one of the most important parameters in the rational design and synthesis of coordination polymers. Aromatic polycarboxylates have been widely used in the preparation of metal–organic polymers since they can utilize various coordination modes to form diverse structures and can act as hydrogen‐bond acceptors and donors in the assembly of supramolecular structures. Nitrogen‐heterocyclic organic compounds have also been used extensively as ligands for the construction of polymers with interesting structures. In the polymers catena‐poly[[[diaquabis{2‐[(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)methyl]‐6‐methyl‐1H‐benzimidazole‐κN ³}cobalt(II)]‐μ₂‐benzene‐1,4‐dicarboxylato‐κ²O ¹:O ⁴] dihydrate], {[Co(C₈H₄O₄)(C₁₂H₁₁N₄)₂(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O}_n , (I), and catena‐poly[[[diaquabis{2‐[(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)methyl]‐6‐methyl‐1H‐benzimidazole‐κN ³}nickel(II)]‐μ₂‐benzene‐1,4‐dicarboxylato‐κ²O ¹:O ⁴] dihydrate], {[Ni(C₈H₄O₄)(C₁₂H₁₁N₄)₂(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O}_n , (II), the Co^II or Ni^II ion lies on an inversion centre and exhibits a slightly distorted octahedral coordination geometry, coordinated by two N atoms from two imidazole rings and four O atoms from two monodentate carboxylate groups and two water molecules. The dicarboxylate ligands bridge metal ions forming a polymeric chain. The 2‐[(1H‐imidazol‐1‐yl)methyl]‐6‐methyl‐1H‐benzimidazole ligands coordinate to the Co^II or Ni^II centres in monodentate modes through an imidazole N atom and are pendant on opposite sides of the main chain. The two structures are isomorphous. In the crystal, the one‐dimensional chains are further connected through O—H…O, O—H…N and N—H…O hydrogen bonds, leading to a three‐dimensional supramolecular architecture. In addition, the IR spectroscopic properties, PXRD patterns, thermogravimetric behaviours and fluorescence properties of both polymers have been investigated.