Synthesis, characterization and anti-lung cancer activity of two transition metal coordination polymers based on the imidazole-containing ligands

This work presents the synthesis and characterization of two new transition metal coordination polymers [Co(tib)₂](NO₃)₂ (<b>1</b>, tib = 1,3,5-tris(1-imidazolyl)benzene) and [Cd₄(bib)₅(HCOO)₈](DMF)₃ (<b>2</b>, bib = 4,4′-bisimidazolylbiphenyl) have been successfully prepared by using two imidazole-containing ligands with different geometers. All structures have been fully elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction along with the elemental analysis. The structural solution and refinement results based on the crystal data collected at room temperature reveal that complex <b>1</b> shows a 2D layered structure with a binodal (3,6)-connected <b><i>kgd</i></b> topological net, while complex <b>2</b> also demonstrates a 2D framework but reflecting a 4-connected <b><i>sql</i></b> topological net. Furthermore, the anti-lung cancer activity of the two complexes has been studied via the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay along with the corresponding action mechanism.