Rational Assembly of Three‐component Coordination Polymers as Heterogeneous Catalysts for CO2 Cycloaddition and Cyanosilylation Reactions

Four new coordination polymers based on 5‐(((1H‐imidazol‐2‐yl)methyl)amino) isophthalic acid (H3L) and auxiliary ligands (1,10‐phenanthroline, 2,2′‐bipyridine, and 4,4′‐bipyridine), namely, {[Zn(HL)(phen)(H2O)]·2H2O}n (CP 1), {[Ni(HL)(phen)(H2O)]}n (CP 2), {[Ni(HL)(2,2'‐bpy)(H2O)]·2H2O}n (CP 3) and {[Cd(HL)(4,4'‐bpy)0.5(H2O)]·2H2O}n (CP 4) were rationally assembled. Furthermore, these four CPs were screened as heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 cycloaddition and cyanosilylation reactions under mild conditions. The catalytic experiments showed that CP 1 had the better catalytic performance, excellent substrate tolerance and recyclability for the above two reactions. It is speculated that the excellent activity of CP 1 may be due to the open Lewis base site and the Lewis acidic characteristics of the zinc (II) center. After five cycles, the catalytic activities of CP 1 did not significantly decrease, and the structures remained unchanged. Therefore, the CP 1 was considered efficient and stable heterogeneous catalysts for above the two reactions.