Advances in ligand-unsupported argentophilic interactions in crystal engineering: an emerging platform for supramolecular architectures

Abstract

Functionality of silver metal ions in coordination chemistry in addition to in crystal engineering is one of the most important research topics. These compounds have been extensively examined thanks to their distinctive properties and various arrangements of structural designs, with the presence of important argentophilic interactions. Various compounds are useful both in the absence and presence of ligand-supported interactions, which are established to obtain appreciably diverse molecular/structural and physical/physicochemical characteristics from silver core-based compounds. In some cases, weak interactions have seen to be useful for Ag–Ag contacts and in some cases, Ag–Ag contacts cooperate in the erection of a variety of interactions and result in topological variations in molecular structures. The outcomes of various developmental studies are appraised herein, focusing on molecular structural systems in which more than two silver cores are accessible at a close distance, supporting the required structural characterization. This review describes examples of various ligand-unsupported argentophilic interactions, emphasizing reticular design methods, synthetic approaches, and characterization techniques for these materials.