A novel 3-connected [3 + 3] topological net showing both rotaxane- and catenane-like motifsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Crystallographic data in CIF format, TG curve and additional figures for crystal 1. CCDC reference number: 813307. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format, see DOI: 10.1039/c1ce05277b

A novel metal–organic compound, namely [Zn6(bib)6L6]·7H2O (1) where H2L = 4-(4-carboxybenzyloxy)benzoic acid, and bib = 4,4′-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene, has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Its structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and further characterized by elemental analysis and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. In the structure of 1, two bib ligands cuddle two metal ions to form a ring, and are linked by deprotonated L2−to form a 6-fold interpenetrated 3D framework. From the topological analysis, each ZnIIion is considered as a three-connected node, and a pair of bib ligands and L2−anions are linkers. The framework of compound 1can be classified as a (62·10)(6·102)(102·12) topology, which is a novel 3-connected [3 + 3] 6-fold interpenetrated net showing both polyrotaxane and polycatenane characters. In addition, the luminescent properties of the compound are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]