Solvent Dependent Disorder in M2(BzOip)2(H2O)Solvate (M = Co or Zn)

Coordination polymers derived from 5-benzyloxy isophthalic acid (H2BzOip) are rare, with only three reported that do not contain additional bridging ligands, of which two M2(BzOip)2(H2O) (M = Co and Zn) are isomorphous. It was hoped that by varying the solvent system in a reaction between H2BzOip and M(OAc)2 (M = Co and Zn), from water to a water/alcohol mixture, coordination polymers of different topology could be formed. Instead, two polymorphs of the existing M2(BzOip)2(H2O) (M = Co and Zn) were isolated from aqueous methanol and aqueous ethanol, in which a small number of guest solvent molecules are present in the crystals. These guest water molecules disrupt the hexaphenyl embrace motif, leading to varying degrees of disorder of the benzyl groups.