Topological Equivalences between Coordination Polymer and Co-crystal: A Tecton Approach in Crystal Engineering

The ligand benzene-1,3,5-triyltriisonicotinate (1) was shown to form topological equivalent organic and metal–organic networks upon treatment with trimesic acid (H₃TMA) and Ag­(I) salt, respectively. Both exhibit interpenetrated (10,3)-b networks, signifying the tecton equivalency between Ag­(I) and H₃TMA. The metal–organic network is doubly interpenetrated, while the organic network is 8-fold interpenetrated which highlights the size differences between Ag­(I) and H₃TMA. Despite interpenetration, both the networks were found to incorporate solvents MeOH and CHCl₃ in their channels. Further, the repeat of reaction of Ag­(I) with 1 in the presence of a pyrene guest was found to produce crystals of open honeycomb (6,3) network with inclusion of pyrene molecules in the channels.