A copper coordination polymer based on bis(imidazole) and thiophenedicarboxylate for photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation

The copper(II) coordination polymer Cu₂(bix)(sdc)₂]_n (1) was synthesized by the hydrothermal method (bix = 1,4-bis(2-methyl-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene, sdc = 2,5-thiophenedicarboxylate). The copper(II) atom of 1 shows unsaturated square-pyramidal configuration. 1 exhibits the 2-fold interpenetrating three-dimensional pcu network based on the Cu₂(COO)₄] dimers. 1 is an efficient and universal photocatalyst for the degradation of the organic dyes methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation, and is very stable and can be reused.