Six tetranuclear cadmium(II) complexes, Na[Cd
4(hmt)
2(H
2O)
6(dpa)
4(NO
3)]·8H
2O (
1), Na[Cd
4(hmt)
2(CH
3OH)
2(H
2O)
4(dpa)
4I]·8H
2O (
2), Na[Cd
4(hmt)
2(H
2O)
6(dpa)
4Br]·8H
2O (
3), Na
2[Cd
4(hmt)
2(H
2O)
6(dpa)
4(SCN)
2]·4H
2O (
4), {Na[Cd
4(hmt)
2(H
2O)
6(dpa)
4Cl](H
2O)
4}
n (
5), and {[Cd
4(hmt)
3(H
2O)
5(dpa)
4](H
2O)
10}
n (
6) (hmt = hexamethylenetetramine, H
2dpa = diphenic acid), were synthesizedby reactions of H
2dpa, hmt, and CdX
2 (X = NO
3-, I
-, Br
-, Cl
-, SCN
-, and OAc
-). All the complexes contain a basic unit [Cd
4(dpa)
4], in which four dpa ligands in a chelating bis-bidentate coordination mode link two six-coordinate and two seven-coordinatecadmium(II) centers. The research result demonstrates that the nature of the counterions has an important effect on the assemblyprocess of neutral and anionic mixed ligands with metal ions. In
1-
3, NO
3-, I
-, or Br
- bridges the two seven-coordinate Cd
IIcenters of the unit to form a discrete tetranuclear molecule with a
cis-conformation and hmt as a terminal ligand coordinated to eachof the two six-coordinate cadmium(II) centers. Two SCN
- in
4 acting as terminal ligands generate a discrete
trans-conformationaltetranuclear cluster anion. The hmt in
5 acting as a
-ligand links
cis-conformational tetranuclear units by Cd-N bonds to generatea one-dimensional chain structure, while the hmt in
6 acting as a
-ligand links the tetranuclear units by Cd-N bonds to generatea two-dimensional layer structure composed of a
planar-conformation [Cd
4(dpa)
4] unit. The fluorescent studies in the solid at roomtemperature show that the six complexes exhibit strong violet or blue emissions in the range 370-500 nm arising from the charge-transfer transition and that the bridging anions have a significant effect on their fluorescent properties.