Metal−Organic Architectures of Silver(I), Cadmium(II), and Copper(II) with a Flexible Tricarboxylate Ligand

Three novel metal−organic architectures, [Ag3(bta)]·1.5H2O (1), [Cd3(bta)2(H2O)7]·5H2O (2), and [Cu11(bta)6(Hbta)2(H2O)10]·29H2O (3), were obtained by reactions of the corresponding metal salts with a flexible tripodal ligand,
benzene-1,3,5-triacetic acid (H3bta), and their structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies.
The results revealed that, in complexes 1 and 2, the carboxylate groups of the bta3- ligand adopted varied coordination
modes to link metal atoms and further to form three-dimensional structures with open channels occupied by water
molecules, while in complex 3, for the first time, the flexible H3bta acted as a secondary building unit to generate
a novel nanometer-sized metallocage, which is composed of a CuII paddle wheel (square secondary building units)
and bta3-/Hbta2- organic links (triangular secondary building units). The photoluminescence properties of complexes
1 and 2 were investigated, and the results showed that 2 exhibited photoluminescence in the solid state at room
temperature.