Various unique coordination patterns of Hg and DFT calculations to determine the formation of a 3-D supramoleculer framework by covalent and noncovalent interactions.

By combining a large pi-conjugated bidentate ligand L: 3,6-dipyrazole-N-ethylcarbazole with HgI(2), an extraordinary supramolecular coordination polymer, [Hg(4)L(2)I(8)](infinity), has been prepared. The crystal structures of the ligand and its coordination polymer were determined by X-ray crystallography, which shows three varied coordination modes especially the rare asymmetric quadruply bridged trinuclear moieties in [Hg(4)L(2)I(8)](infinity). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations (ADF) performed on model dimers show the roles of covalent and noncovalent interactions in establishing the three-dimensional architecture.