Stepwise assembly of multidimensional Al–Pb based coordination polymers

The coordination chemistry of the main group elements has always been attractive. Present herein is a stepwise assembly approach toward multidimensional Al–Pb based crystalline compounds. [Al 2 Pb 3 (L) 2 (HL) 2 (μ 3 −OH) 2 ]·2Hdma·2H 2 O·2Cl (AlOC-48) and [AlPb 2 (L) 2 (μ 3 −OH)]·3H 2 O (AlOC-49) (H 3 L ​= ​2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, Cat ​= ​catechol and dma ​= ​dimethylamine) represent the first examples of multidimensional Al–Pb based compounds. They are assembled through [Al 4 (L) 4 (Cat) 2 ]] 4- (Al 4 , AlOC-13) polyanions and Pb ions. During the process of coordination assembly, metal site substitution occurs on the Al 4 precursors and transform into Al 2 Pb 2 unit. AlOC-48 and AlOC-49 are two-dimensional and three-dimensional frameworks based on Al 2 Pb 2 clusters. Moreover, the optical band gap and photocurrent response of these two compounds are studied.