Synthesis and crystal structure of a 3‐D Ag + coordination polymer with white‐light emission

Treatment of AgNO 3 with a tetrazolyl ligand H 2 L 1 afforded a 3‐D coordination polymer [Ag 2 ( L 1 )] n ( 1 ). The crystal structure was determined by X‐ray crystallography and it shows that both Ag1 and Ag2 atoms in the asymmetric unit exhibit distorted tetrahedron geometries, which are modified by Ag⋯Ag interactions. The flexible methylene –CH 2 – linkage between tetrazolate and phenyl ring effectively reduces the steric strain in the resultant 3D‐framework. L 1 exhibits an unsual coordination mode in which all nitrogen atoms in the two tetrazolato units are coordinated to the Ag I centers. The luminescent property of 1 was also investigated. It exhibits multiple emission bands; the high energy emission band is assigned to the ligand‐centered π⋯π transition, while the low energy emission bands are tentatively assigned to ligand‐to‐metal charge transfer (LMCT) that are modified by Ag⋯Ag interaction. The independence of the chromaticity coordinates of 1 on the excitation wavelength also suggests that it is a potentially useful single–component white‐light‐emitting material.