[2 + 2] Cycloaddition reaction as a tool to monitor the formation of thermodynamically stable ladder coordination polymers

Abstract

A linear Cu(ii) coordination polymer was transformed to a sheet or ladder structure by the loss of coordinated DMF when the single crystals or the ground powder, respectively, were used. Further, the sheet structure rearranged to a ladder polymer when the desolvated single crystals were ground to powder, as monitored by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.