Coordination Polymers from Functionalized Bipyrimidine Ligands and Silver(I) Salts

Readily functionalizable bipyrimidine compounds were prepared for the first time, and their coordination chemistry with silver salts was explored. Solution ¹H NMR spectroscopy experiments indicated that the ligands rapidly form complexes with silver(I) salts, and coordination at a first site inhibits coordination of a second cation to the ligand, thus favoring 1:1 complexes in solution. These 1:1 units self-assemble into one-dimensional chains in the solid state, even in the presence of excess Ag(I). Structurally diverse coordination polymers exhibiting different coordination numbers and geometry were characterized by single crystal X-ray crystallography. Our results demonstrate that a modification to the ligand, distal from the binding site, affects the coordination chemistry and supramolecular structure of these complexes.