Synthesis of a cobalt-based photoluminescent coordination complex to study quenching mechanisms of nitro compounds

<p>A cobalt metal coordination complex was synthesized using the bipyridyl spacer ligand along with a dicarboxylate as secondary ligand. The coordination complex was characterized using FTIR, ¹H NMR, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and powder XRD. The structure shown from single-crystal XRD revealed that each Co(II) cation in the cluster can be described as trigonal bipyramidal. Luminescence properties of the complex were investigated using different solvents. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra depicted change in band gap for THF and DCM. The complex was further investigated for ligand-based photoluminescence properties and thus used for sensing of nitro compounds. The static and dynamic quenching mechanism of nitro compounds was identified through the Stern–Volmer model.