Thiazole-based Coordination Polymers and MOFs: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications in Luminescence and Gas Adsorption

Thiazoles are intriguing heterocycles for the construction of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Coordination Polymers (CPs) of assorted dimensionality.1 Thiazoles and the related thiazolium salts are found in many natural products. Several compounds exhibit fluorescence properties (benzothiazoles are present in luciferines, bioluminescent substances that are produced by fireflies) and have been used for the preparation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and semiconductor materials. The presence of polarized C-N or C-S bonds and of multiple basic sites of both hard (N) and soft (S) nature for coordination to metal ions are suitable for exploitation in the fields of carbon dioxide storage and luminescent ion sensing, respectively. A series of polymers with variable dimensionality spanning from 1D to 3D (Figure 1) and featuring thiazole-based carboxylic acids as organic building blocks have been prepared and fully characterized in the solid state. Their performance as CO2 storage materials2 and as luminescent sensors for HgII in aqueous solutions3 has been scrutinized. The results will be discussed in details.