Zinc and cadmium 2-pyrazinephosphonates: syntheses, structures and luminescent properties

Three new metal(II) 2-pyrazinephosphonates have been synthesized by hydrothermal reactions based on 2-pyrazinephosphonic acid (C(4)H(3)N(2)PO(3)H(2)1) as ligand, namely, Zn(C(4)H(3)N(2)PO(3)) (2), Cd[(C(4)H(3)N(2)PO(3))(H(2)O)] (3) and Cd[(C(4)H(3)N(2)PO(3)H)Cl]·H(2)O (4). In compound 2, the O-P-O bridged inorganic layers are pillared by pyrazinyl groups into a three-dimensional network. In compound 3, the {CdO(5)N} and {CPO(3)} polyhedra are interconnected via edge and corner-sharing into a metal phosphonate layer. In compound 4, the {Cd(2)Cl(2)} dimers are linked by O-P-O bridges into a one-dimensional double chain, and the chains are joined into a layer by pyrazinyl groups. Here we employ pyrazinephosphonic acids as structure directing motifs to form extended structures and materials with interesting luminescent properties. The luminescent properties studied have also been described.