The reaction of appropriate copper and vanadium salts with tetratopic methane tetra-p-phenylphosphonic acid (MTPPA) in the presence of 2,2':6':2''-terpyridine (terpy) yielded the three-dimensional bimetallic copper vanadium phosphonate framework [{Cu(terpy)}4Cu(VO2)4(MTPPA-H)2]·4H2O (1). Terpy has no net contribution to the three-dimensional structure providing a potential platform for void space formation via mold-casting. The structure was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Magnetic measurements were performed using a SQUID magnetometer. The crystal structure of the methanol solvate of the free ligand, MTPPA·MeOH, was analysed using Hirshfeld surfaces and fingerprint plots.
Keywords: Hirshfeld surfaces; bimetallic Cu–V frameworks; metal organic frameworks (MOFs); organophosphonate complexes; void space formation.