Hydrothermal synthesis, structure, and luminescent properties of selected Zn(II)/Cd(ii) coordination polymers constructed from 3,5-bis(x-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole (x = 3, 4)Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. Additional crystallographic data have been deposited at the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC); reference numbers are 686453for 1, 803353for 2, 701506for 3, 722455for 4, 701507for 5and 666420for 6. The data can be obtained free of charge from www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/conts/retrieving.html(or from CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK; fax: + 44 1223 336 033; e-mail: deposit@ccdc.cam.ac.uk). For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c0dt01174f

Utilizing 3,5-bis(x-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole(x-Hpytz, x = 3; x = 4) as multidentate ligands, six novel coordination polymers with Zn(ii) or Cd(ii) metal ions were prepared: [Zn(3-pytz)0.5(OH)0.5Cl]n(1, 1D ladder), {[Zn(3-Hpytz)(H2O)4] [Zn(3-Hpytz)(H2O)3·SO4]SO4·5H2O}n(2·5H2O, 1D chain), [Cd(3-Hpytz)(SO4)]n(3, 3D framework), {[Cd(3-Hyptz)SO4·3H2O]·2H2O}n(4·2H2O, 1D chain), [Zn(4-pytz)Cl]n(5, 3D framework) and [Zn2(4-pytz)(SO4)(OH)]n(6, 3D framework). All compounds were obtained from hydrothermal reactions, with the exception of compound 4which was obtained by solvent diffusion at room temperature. All compounds were characterized by FTIR, elemental analysis and TGA analysis and their structures were determined by X-ray diffraction. All compounds exhibited substantial thermal stability and showed photofluorescent properties that resulted from ligand π–π* transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]