ROP relationships between coordination polymers and discrete complexes: discrete bowl-shaped isomers of a 2-dimensional {M4L3}n polymer

Recently, it has been found that the topologies of coordination polymers and their soluble discrete precursors are sometimes formally interrelated by ring-opening polymerisation (ROP), which has implications for the possible mechanisms by which coordination polymers form. Here, we describe unusual discrete bowl-shaped {Ag4L3} complexes which have a formal ROP relationship with a previously reported {Ag4L3}n porous 2-dimensional polymer (L = triphosphine). The discrete complexes are isolated for triphosphines based on heterocyclic cores [L = 1,3,5-tris(diphenylphosphino)triazine, or tris(diphenylphosphino)pyrimidine] whereas the previously-reported polymer was isolated for the corresponding benzene-cored ligand 1,3,5-tris(diphenylphosphino)benzene.