Potassium induced stitching of a flexible tripodal ligand into a bi-metallic two-dimensional coordination polymer for photo-degradation of organic dyes.

A novel strategy for the stitching of a tripodal ligand into a bi-metallic two-dimensional (2D) coordination polymer has been reported. The reaction of 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde based ligand H3L with nickel acetate resulted in the metal functionalized 2D extended network via potassium induced activation of the nitro group of the ligand. The compound is highly active towards photo-degradation of organic dyes.