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 (1, tib = 1,3,5-tris(1-imidazolyl)benzene) and [Cd4(bib)5(HCOO)8](DMF)3 (2, 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 1 shows a 2D layered structure with a binodal (3,6)-connected kgd topological net, while complex 2 also demonstrates a 2D framework but reflecting a 4-connected sql 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.