Construction of two coordination polymers based on imidazolyl and aromatic dicarboxylic acid ligands: structural diversity and anti-lung cancer activity study

Solvothermal reaction of 4,4′-bis(imidazol-1-yl)diphenyl ether (BIDPE) or 1,4-Bis(imidazole-1-ylmethyl)benzene (BiB) with 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (H2bdc) or 4,4’-(thiobis(methylene))dibenzoic acid (H2tba) in the presence of Zn(NO3)2·6H2O or Co(NO3)2·6H2O in a mixed solvent of H2O/DMF yielded two new coordination polymers, namely, [Zn(bdc)(BIDPE)](DMF)2(H2O) (1) and [Co(tba)(BIB)](H2tba)(DMF)(H2O)2 (2). These complexes were characterized by elemental analysis and X-ray single-crystal diffraction, which revealed that complex 1 is a 2D layered network with hexagonal windows while complex 2 is a 1D chain-like structure containing the 0D Co2(BIB)2 loops. Furthermore, the anticancer activity of the two coordination complexes has been evaluated via the CCK-8 assay and western blot assay.