Family of Cadmium Acetate Coordination Networks With Structurally Diverse [Cd4(OAc)9(μ3-OH)]2− Secondary Building Units

By subtly varying crystallization conditions, four distinct cadmium acetate coordination networks with unit cell formulas Cd87(H2O)36(EtOH)18(OH)12(CH3CO2)162 (1), Cd87(H2O)72(OH)12(CH3CO2)162 (2), Cd10(H2O)6(OH)2(CH3CO2)18 (3), and Cd20(H2O)20(OH)4(CH3CO2)36 (4) have been isolated. The coordination networks exhibit interesting structural diversity and have been investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All four complexes are composed of secondary building units with the general formula [Cd4(OAc)9(μ3-OH)]2−. Complexes 1 and 2 exhibit a remarkable three-dimensional network composed of aligned columns, each 4.5 nm long, containing three different cadmium acetate clusters. Complexes 3 and 4 extend in two-dimensions with each unit cell repeating a different linkage isomer of the [Cd4(OAc)9(μ3-OH)]2− cluster.