A zinc carboxylate network containing metal sites with low coordination numbers.

A bifunctional m-terphenyl, 2,6-diphenyl-1,4-dibenzoic acid (Ph2BDC), was synthesized and used in the preparation of a 2-D metal-organic coordination polymer. The steric hindrance of the bulky bifunctional linker forces low coordination at the Lewis-acidic zinc center. A zinc carboxylate dimer was prepared as a model compound to examine the unusual tricoordinate geometry at the metal site.