Structural Characteristics and Non-Linear Optical Behaviour of a 2-Hydroxynicotinate-Containing Zinc-Based Metal-Organic Framework

Materials with non-linear optical (NLO) properties play an important role in the construction of electronic devices for optical communications, optical data processing and data storage. With this aim in mind, a Zn(II)-based metal-organic framework {[Zn(2)(nica)(2)(bpy)(1.5)(H(2)O)]·0.5(bpy)·3H(2)O}(n) (1), was synthesized using 4,4ʹ-bipyridine (bpy) and a potentially bidentate ligand, 2-hydroxynicotinic acid (H(2)nica) with a salicylate binding moiety. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that compound 1 crystallized in the orthorhombic space group Fdd2 and was composed of a three dimensional porous framework. Since Fdd2 belonged to a class of non-centrosymmetric space groups, we therefore investigated the non-linear optical behaviour of compound 1. Photoluminescence studies revealed that compound 1 exhibited a blue light emission with a maxima at 457 nm.