From Coordination Cages to a Stable Crystalline Porous Hydrogen-Bonded Framework

From individuals to families: design and application of self-similar chiral nanomaterials

Establishing an intimate relationship between similar individuals is the beginning of self-extension. Various self-similar chiral nanomaterials can be designed using an individual-to-family approach, accomplishing self-extension. This self-similarity facilitates chiral communication, transmission, and amplification of synthons. We focus on describing the marriage of discrete cages to develop self-similar extended frameworks. The advantages of utilizing cage-based frameworks for chiral recognition, enantioseparation, chiral catalysis and sensing are highlighted. To further promote self-extension, fractal chiral nanomaterials with self-similar and iterated architectures have attracted tremendous attention. The beauty of a fractal family tree lies in its ability to capture the complexity and interconnectedness of a family's lineage. As a type of fractal material, nanoflowers possess an overarching importance in chiral amplification due to their large surface-to-volume ratio. This review summarizes the design and application of state-of-the-art self-similar chiral nanomaterials including cage-based extended frameworks, fractal nanomaterials, and nanoflowers. We hope this formation process from individuals to families will inherit and broaden this great chirality.

Designing External Pores of Aluminum Oxo Polyhedrons for Efficient Iodine Capture

Although metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) expansion has been studied to date, it is still a rare occurrence for their porous intermolecular assembly for iodine capture. The major limitation is the lack of programmable and controllable methods for effectively constructing and utilizing the exterior cavities. Herein, the goal of programmable porous intermolecular assembly is realized in the first family of aluminum oxo polyhedrons (AlOPs) using ligands with directional H-bonding donor/acceptor pairs and auxiliary alcohols as structural regulation sites. The approach has the advantage of avoiding the use of expensive edge-directed ditopic and face-directed tritopic ligands in the general synthesis strategy of MOPs. Combining theoretical calculations and experiments, the intrinsic relationship is revealed between alcohol ligands and the growth mechanism of AlOPs. The maximum I2 uptake based on the mass gain during sorption corresponds to 2.35 g g-1, representing the highest reported I2 sorption by an MOP. In addition, it can be easily regenerated and maintained the iodine sorption capacity, revealing its further potential application. This method of constructing stable and programmable porous materials will provide a new way to solve problems such as radionuclide capture.

Charge-Assisted Ionic Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks: Designable and Stabilized Multifunctional Materials

Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) are a class of crystalline framework materials assembled by hydrogen bonds. HOFs have the advantages of high crystallinity, mild reaction conditions, good solution processability, and reproducibility. Coupled with the reversibility and flexibility of hydrogen bonds, HOFs can be assembled into a wide diversity of crystalline structures. Since the bonding energy of hydrogen bonds is lower than that of ligand and covalent bonds, the framework of HOFs is prone to collapse after desolventisation and the stability is not high, which limits the development and application of HOFs. In recent years, numerous stable and functional HOFs have been developed by π-π stacking, highly interpenetrated networks, charge-assisted, ligand-bond-assisted, molecular weaving, and covalent cross-linking. Charge-assisted ionic HOFs introduce electrostatic attraction into HOFs to improve stability while enriching structural diversity and functionality. In this paper, we review the development, the principles of rational design and assembly of charge-assisted ionic HOFs, and introduces the different building block construction modes of charge-assisted ionic HOFs. Highlight the applications of charge-assisted ionic HOFs in gas adsorption and separation, proton conduction, biological applications, etc., and prospects for the diverse design of charge-assisted ionic HOFs structures and multifunctional applications.

Hybrid Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks: Structures and Functional Applications

As a new class of porous crystalline materials, hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) assembled from building blocks by hydrogen bonds have gained increasing attention. HOFs benefit from advantages including mild synthesis, easy purification, and good recyclability. However, some HOFs transform into unstable frameworks after desolvation, which hinders their further applications. Nowadays, the main challenges of developing HOFs lie in stability improvement, porosity establishment, and functionalization. Recently, more and more stable and permanently porous HOFs have been reported. Of all these design strategies, stronger charge-assisted hydrogen bonds and coordination bonds have been proven to be effective for developing stable, porous, and functional solids called hybrid HOFs, including ionic and metallized HOFs. This Review discusses the rational design synthesis principles of hybrid HOFs and their cutting-edge applications in selective inclusion, proton conduction, gas separation, catalysis and so forth.

Metal Organic Polygons and Polyhedra: Instabilities and Remedies

The field of coordination chemistry has undergone rapid transformation from preparation of monometallic complexes to multimetallic complexes. So far numerous multimetallic coordination complexes have been synthesized. Multimetallic coordination complexes with well-defined architectures are often called as metal organic polygons and polyhedra (MOPs). In recent past, MOPs have received tremendous attention due to their potential applicability in various emerging fields. However, the field of coordination chemistry of MOPs often suffer set back due to the instability of coordination complexes particularly in aqueous environment-mostly by aqueous solvent and atmospheric moisture. Accordingly, the fate of the field does not rely only on the water solubilities of newly synthesized MOPs but very much dependent on their stabilities both in solution and solid state. The present review discusses several methodologies to prepare MOPs and investigates their stabilities under various circumstances. Considering the potential applicability of MOPs in sustainable way, several methodologies (remedies) to enhance the stabilities of MOPs are discussed here.

RhB-encapsulated metal-organic cage as a dual-emission fluorescence sensor for detection of malachite green and glycine

RhB@ZrT-1-OH composite was constructed by introduction of Rhodamine B (RhB) into the cages of zirconium-based metal-organic cage that had two fluorescence emission peaks at 466 and 612 nm upon excitation at 327 nm. The dual-emission fluorescence sensor exhibits ultra-high sensitive detection for malachite green (MG) and glycine (Gly) in phosphate buffer solution (pH = 6.86). RhB@ZrT-1-OH as a ratiometric fluorescence probe was applied to detect MG with a low LOD of 0.2879 μM and presented obvious fluorescence visual changes from orange to purple to blue under 254 nm UV-vis lamp. Moreover, RhB@ZrT-1-OH also can be utilized as a "turn-on" fluorescence sensor to recognize Gly with a low LOD of 0.3747 μM and exhibits fluorescence color changes from orange to pink to purple. Notably, the corresponding test papers for sensing MG and Gly were designed for recognize the concentration of MG and Gly. Furthermore, the dual-emission fluorescence sensor can be used to detect MG and Gly in fish and human serum with high sensitivity and reliable. The possible detecting mechanisms of RhB@ZrT-1-OH for sensing MG and Gly were detailedly explored.

Synthesis of the two isomers of heteroleptic Rh12L6L'6 metal-organic polyhedra by screening of complementary linkers

We have synthesised and characterised the two possible isomers of heteroleptic trigonal antiprismatic M₁₂L₆L'₆ MOPs by screening reactions of rhodium acetate with different pairs of complementary dicarboxylate linkers. The resulting 12 new MOPs (eight of isomer A + four of isomer B) are microporous in the solid state, exhibiting Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas as high as 770 m² g^-1.

Zirconium Metal-Organic Cages: Synthesis and Applications

ConspectusFor the last two decades, materials scientists have contributed to a growing library of porous crystalline materials. These synthetic materials are typically extended networks, including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), or discrete materials like metal-organic cages (MOCs) and porous organic cages (POCs). Advanced porous materials have shown promise for various applications due to their modular nature and structural tunability. MOCs have recently garnered attention because of their molecularity that bestows them with many unique possibilities (e.g., solution-processability, structural diversity, and postsynthetic processability).MOCs are discrete molecular assemblies of organic ligands coordinated with either metal cations or metal oxide clusters of different nuclearities, resulting in architectures with inherent porosity. Notably, the molecular nature of MOCs endows them with easy solution-processability unattainable with traditional framework materials. To date, a number of stable MOCs have been reported, such as those based on Rh (Rh-O bond energy: 405 ± 42 kJ/mol), Fe (Fe-O bond energy: 407.0 ± 1.0 kJ/mol), Cr (Cr-O bond energy: 461 ± 8.7 kJ/mol), Ti (Ti-O bond energy: 666.5 ± 5.6 kJ/mol), and Zr (Zr-O bond energy: 766.1 ± 10.6 kJ/mol). Paddle-wheel MOCs have also shown great stability in aqueous environments due to their rigid backbones. The zirconium MOC (Zr-MOCs) family emerges as a class of very robust cages for which their high bond energy endows them with high hydrothermal stability.In 2013, we reported the first four zirconocene tetrahedrons assembled from trinuclear zirconium oxide clusters with ditopic or tritopic organic ligands. Since then, significant progress in the rational design of Zr-MOC has led to an assortment of structures dedicated to meaningful applications.In this Account, we highlight the recent progress in synthesizing Zr-MOCs and Zr-MOC-based higher dimensional frameworks and their applications dedicated in our laboratories and beyond. The general Zr-MOC synthetic strategy involves assembling Zr trinuclear clusters with organic ligands (rigid or flexible) containing various functional groups. This chemistry has afforded cages with structural versatility and active sites, e.g., amino groups, for postsynthetic modifications (PSMs). Since the extrinsic porosity of cage-based frameworks is relatively weak, the resulting frameworks are susceptible to structural rearrangement after solvent removal. To circumvent this limitation, increasing the hydrogen bond ratio and strength between interlinked cages and conducting in situ catalytic polymerizations have been reported to afford permanently porous structures amenable to host-guest reactions.To expand their potential applications, multifunctional Zr-MOCs are highly desired. Such multivariate MOCs can be attained by either employing the isoreticular expansion strategy to create MOCs with high surface areas or using mixed-ligand approaches to afford heterogeneous MOCs. In addition, amorphous MOCs, flexible organic ligands, new functionalities, and MOC-based extended networks are exciting new approaches to developing materials with structural versatility and enhanced characteristics. Thereby, we believe the stability and versatility of the Zr-MOC family hold great potential in expanding and addressing challenging applications.

Face-Directed Construction of a Metal-Organic Isohedral Tetrahedron for the Highly Efficient Capture of Environmentally Toxic Oxoanions and Iodine

Geometric analysis has been guiding the design and construction of metal-organic polyhedra. Here, a series of isohedral tetrahedra ZrIT-1 and -2 and VIT-1 and -2 were synthesized by a one-pot method relying on trivalent molecular building blocks. Structural analysis shows that the isohedral tetrahedra constructed with {V₆(SO₄)(CO₂)₃} have three different sets of prism lengths, while those constructed with {Zr₃O(CO₂)₃} have two different sets of prism lengths. Comparison of two types of polyhedra reveals that the different sizes and coordination flexibilities of the two MBBs result in different cavity volumes. The environmentally toxic oxoanion trapping ability of ZrIT-1 was explored due to its structural stability and cation cage properties. The results show that ZrIT-1 can capture permanganate and dichromate anions in water with high efficiency and selectivity. Notably, the permanganate adsorption capacity can reach ∼276.6 mg/g, which exceeds those of most metal-organic framework materials. In addition, the adsorption and desorption of iodine showed that ZrIT-1 has a reversible adsorption capacity for iodine.

Post-synthetic modifications of metal–organic cages

Metal-organic cages (MOCs) are discrete, supramolecular entities that consist of metal nodes and organic linkers, which can offer solution processability and high porosity. Thereby, their predesigned structures can undergo post-synthetic modifications (PSMs) to introduce new functional groups and properties by modifying the linker, metal node, pore or surface environment. This Review explores current PSM strategies used for MOCs, including covalent, coordination and noncovalent methods. The effects of newly introduced functional groups or generated complexes upon the PSMs of MOCs are also detailed, such as improving structural stability or endowing desired functionalities. The development of the aforementioned design principles has enabled systematic approaches for the development and characterization of families of MOCs and, thereby, provides insight into structure-function relationships that will guide future developments.

The Chemistry of Zirconium/Carboxylate Clustering Process: Acidic Conditions to Promote Carboxylate-Unsaturated Octahedral Hexamers and Pentanuclear Species

Clustering chemistry is a key point in the design and synthesis of the secondary building units that comprise metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on group IV metals. In this work, the first stages of the zirconium-carboxylate clustering process in alcohol/water mixtures are studied in detail using the monocarboxylic benzoic and hydroxybenzoic acids to avoid the polymerization. Mass spectroscopy measurements performed on the reactions revealed the presence of hexa- and pentanuclear species even at low pH values and also evidenced the acid-base nature and pH dependence of the transformation between both species. The control on the chemistry governing the equilibria between these species has allowed us to isolate six new compounds in the solid state. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that they are closely related to the well-known [Zr₆(O)₄(OH)₄(OOC)₁₂] secondary building unit found in many MOFs by removing carboxylic ligands in the case of the hexameric species ([Zr₆(O)₄(OH)₄(OOC)₈(H₂O)₈]⁴⁺) or by additionally removing one of the metal centers in the case of the pentameric entities ([Zr₅(O)₂(OH)₆(OOC)₄(H₂O)₁₁(alcohol)]⁶⁺). Going in detail, the unsaturated hexameric clusters exhibit different dispositions of their eight carboxylate ligands in such a way that the remaining four carboxylate-free positions are arranged according to a square planar or tetrahedral symmetry. It should be highlighted that the pentameric complexes imply an unprecedented core nuclearity in zirconium clusters and thus their isolation provides a novel building block for the design of metal-organic materials.

Photo/Electrochromic Dual Responsive Behavior of a Cage-like Zr(IV)-Viologen Metal-Organic Polyhedron (MOP)

Stable stimulus-responsive materials are highly desirable due to their widespread potential applications and growing demand in recent decades. Despite the fact that viologen derivatives have long been known as excellent photochromic and electrochromic materials, the development of stable viologen-based multifunctional smart materials with short coloration times remains an exciting topic. To obtain photochromic and electrochromic dual responsive materials, embedding the viologen ligand into a robust metal oxide cluster to increase its stability and sensitivity is an effective strategy. Herein, a viologen-based metal-organic polyhedron (MOP) {[Zr₆L₃(μ₃-O)₂(μ₂-OH)₆Cp₆]·8Cl·CH₃OH·DMF} [Zr-MOP-1; H₂L·2Cl = 1,1'-bis(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4'-bipyridinium dichloride, and Cp = η⁵-C₅H₅] was successfully prepared and characterized. It consists of trinuclear Zr-oxygen secondary building units and exhibits reversible photochromic and electrochromic dual responsive behaviors. As expected, the designed robust viologen-based nanocage with a V₂E₃ (V = vertex, and E = edge) topology can maintain its stability and rapid photo/electrochromic behaviors with an obvious reversible change in color from purple (brown) to green, mainly due to the enclosed cluster structure and the abundant free viologen radicals that originate from the effective Cl → N and O → N electron transfers. Spectroelectrochemistry and theoretical calculations of this Zr-MOP were also performed to verify the chromic mechanism.

A Series of Functionalized Zirconium Metal-Organic Cages for Efficient CO2/N2 Separation

Global warming associated with CO₂ emission has led to frequent extreme weather events in recent years. Carbon capture using porous solid adsorbents is promising for addressing the greenhouse effect. Herein, we report a series of robust metal-organic cages (MOCs) featuring various functional groups, such as methyl and amine groups, for CO₂/N₂ separation. Significantly, the amine-group-functionalized MOC-QW-3-NH₂ displays the best selective CO₂ adsorption performance, as confirmed by single-component adsorption and transient breakthrough experiments. The distinct CO₂ adsorption mechanism has been well studied via theoretical calculations, confirming that the amine groups play a vital role for efficiently selective CO₂ adsorption resulting from hierarchical adsorbate-framework interaction.

Crystal Structure Transformation in Hydrogen-bonded Organic Frameworks via Ion Exchange

Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) have emerged as rapidly growing porous materials while established permanent porosities are very fragile and difficult to stabilize due to weak hydrogen-bonding interactions among building units. Herein, we report a stable hydrogen-bonded metallotecton framework (termed as HOF-ZJU-102) that was constructed through hydrogen-bonding networks between cationic metal-organic complexes [Cu₂ (Hade)₄ (H₂ O)₂ ]⁴⁺ (Hade=adenine) and GeF₆ ^2- anions. The framework not only shows permanent porosity, but also exhibits efficient separation performance of C₂ H₂ /C₂ H₄ at room temperature. More interestingly, its crystal structure could be irreversibly transformed into isostructural counterpart HOF-ZJU-101 by ion exchange in the SiF₆ ^2- containing solution, evidenced by multiple characterization techniques including gas sorption measurements, ¹⁹ F NMR spectra, FTIR and EDS. Utilizing such an ion exchange mechanism, the collapsed HOF-ZJU-102 could be restored into HOF-ZJU-101 by simply soaking in the salt solution.

Supramolecular Coordination Cages Based on N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Gold(I) Ligands and Their Precursors: Self-Assembly, Structural Transformation and Guest-Binding Properties

The incorporation of functional groups into the cavity of discrete supramolecular coordination cages (SCCs) will bring unique functions and applications. Here, three dicarboxylate ligands (H₂ L1Cl, H₂ L2Cl and H₂ L3Cl) containing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) precursors as linkers were introduced to construct SCCs by combining with two C₃ -symmertic (CpZr)₃ (μ₃ -O)(μ₂ -OH)₃ clusters as three-connect vertices, resulted in a series of rugby-like V₂ E₃ (V=vertex, E=edge) type homoleptic cages (SCC-1, SCC-2 and SCC-3). However, V₄ E₆ -type tetrahedral cages (SCC-4 and SCC-5), incorporating six Au-NHC moieties, were obtained when the corresponding NHC-gold(I) functionalized ligands (H₂ L1^Au , H₂ L2^Au ) were applied. For the first time, we present a trackable CpZr-involved cage to cage conversion to generate a heteroleptic V₂ E₃ cage (SCC-6) from two homoleptic cages (SCC-2 and SCC-5) with different geometries of V₂ E₃ and V₄ E₆ . The heteroleptic assembly SCC-6 can also be formed upon a subcomponent displacement strategy. The structural transformation and reassembly processes were detected and monitored by ¹ H NMR spectroscopy and electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry. The formation of heteroleptic assembly was further supported by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Moreover, homoleptic cage SCC-2 possesses a trigonal bipyramidal cationic cavity allowing the encapsulation of a series of sulfonate anionic guests.

Effect of structural features on the stability and bactericidal potential of two cadmium coordination polymers

Two mixed ligand Cd(ii) coordination polymers have been synthesized using three methods by in situ decarboxylation of phenylmalonic acid. CPs were screened for their antibacterial activities and the influence of structural properties was studied.

The rise of metal-organic polyhedra

Metal-organic polyhedra are a member of metal-organic materials, and are together with metal-organic frameworks utilized as emerging porous platforms for numerous applications in energy- and bio-related sciences. However, metal-organic polyhedra have been significantly underexplored, unlike their metal-organic framework counterparts. In this review, we will cover the topologies and the classification of metal-organic polyhedra and share several suggestions, which might be useful to synthetic chemists regarding the future directions in this rapid-growing field.

Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks as a Tunable Platform for Functional Materials

As a novel class of porous crystalline materials, hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs), self-assembled from organic or metal-organic building blocks through intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions, have attracted more and more attention. Over the past decade, a number of porous HOFs have been constructed through judicious selection of H-bonding motifs, which are further enforced by other weak intermolecular interactions such as π-π stacking and van der Waals forces and framework interpenetration. Since the H-bonds are weaker than coordinate and covalent bonds used for the construction of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), HOFs have some unique features such as mild synthesis condition, solution processability, easy healing, and regeneration. These features enable HOFs to be a tunable platform for the construction of functional materials. Here, we review the H-bonding motifs used for constructing porous HOFs and highlight some of their applications, including gas separation and storage, chiral separation and structure determination, fluorescent sensing, heterogeneous catalysis, biological applications, proton conduction, photoluminescent materials, and membrane-based applications.

Metal hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks: structure and performance

Although great progress has been made in the design, synthesis, and performance expansion of porous materials, new porous materials with stable structures still need to be explored further. In recent years, porous molecular crystals formed by intermolecular interactions have attracted wide attention from chemists, especially metal hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (M-HOFs) formed by connecting metal complexes through hydrogen bonds. Metal complexes with specific properties (e.g., magnetism, luminescence, sensing, and catalysis) can expand and develop the application of M-HOFs further. However, the huge volume, irregular shape, complex coordination modes, and interference of coordination bonds pose certain challenges in the synthesis and performance expansion of M-HOFs. In this frontier, we summarize the latest progress in the use of 3d, 4d, and 4f metal complexes for the synthesis of M-HOFs, and briefly introduce the performance expansion of these M-HOFs, which is expected to help expand new porous materials with stable structures and specific functions.

Self-assembly of zirconocene-based metal–organic capsules: the structure, luminescence sensing of Fe3+ and iodine capture

Three new nanosized Zr-based MCs were synthesized under solvothermal conditions with excellent selectivity for luminescence sensing of Fe³⁺ and high performance for I₂ sorption and release.

Permanent porous hydrogen-bonded frameworks with two types of Brønsted acid sites for heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis

The search for porous materials with strong Brønsted acid sites for challenging reactions has long been of significant interest, but it remains a formidable synthetic challenge. Here we demonstrate a cage extension strategy to construct chiral permanent porous hydrogen-bonded frameworks with strong Brønsted acid groups for heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis. We report the synthesis of two octahedral coordination cages using enantiopure 4,4’,6,6’-tetra(benzoate) ligand of 1,1’-spirobiindane-7,7’-phosphoric acid and Ni₄/Co₄-p-tert-butylsulfonylcalix[4]arene clusters. Intercage hydrogen-bonds and hydrophobic interactions between tert-butyl groups direct the hierarchical assembly of the cages into a permanent porous material. The chiral phosphoric acid-containing frameworks can be high efficient and recyclable heterogeneous Brønsted acid catalysts for asymmetric [3+2] coupling of indoles with quinone monoimine and Friedel-Crafts alkylations of indole with aryl aldimines. The afforded enantioselectivities (up to 99.9% ee) surpass those of the homogeneous counterparts and compare favorably with those of the most enantioselective homogeneous phosphoric acid catalysts reported to date.

The search for porous materials with strong Brønsted acid sites for challenging chemical reactions has been of significant interest, but remains challenging. Here the authors report a cage extension strategy to construct chiral permanent porous hydrogen-bonded frameworks with strong Brønsted acid groups for heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis.

Metalo Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks (MHOFs) as New Class of Crystalline Materials for Protonic Conduction

Recently, proton conduction has been a thread of high potential owing to its wide applications in fuel-cell technology. In the search for a new class of crystalline materials for protonic conductors, three metalo hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (MHOFs) based on [Ni(Imdz)₆ ]²⁺ and arene disulfonates (MHOF1 and MHOF2) or dicarboxylate (MHOF3) have been reported (Imdz=imidazole). The presence of an ionic backbone with charge-assisted H-bonds, coupled with amphiprotic imidazoles made these MHOFs protonic conductors, exhibiting conduction values of 0.75×10^-3 , 3.5×10^-4 and 0.97×10^-3  S cm^-1 , respectively, at 80 °C and 98 % relative humidity, which are comparable to other crystalline metal-organic framework, coordination polymer, polyoxometalate, covalent organic framework, and hydrogen-bonded organic framework materials. This report initiates the usage of MHOF materials as a new class of solid-state proton conductors.

A series of dysprosium-based hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (Dy–HOFs): thermally triggered off → on conversion of a single-ion magnet

A series of dysprosium-based HOFs (Dy–HOFs) were designed and synthesized for the first time under solvothermal conditions. Herein, we achieved the magnetic off → on SIM switching of Dy–HOFs under thermal driving conditions.

Catalytic reactions within the cavity of coordination cages

Natural enzymes catalyze reactions in their substrate-binding cavities, exhibiting high specificity and efficiency. In an effort to mimic the structure and functionality of enzymes, discrete coordination cages were designed and synthesized. These self-assembled systems have a variety of confined cavities, which have been applied to accelerate conventional reactions, perform substrate-specific reactions, and manipulate regio- and enantio-selectivity. Many coordination cages or cage-catalyst composites have achieved unprecedented results, outperforming their counterparts in different catalytic reactions. This tutorial review summarizes recent developments of coordination cages across three key approaches to coordination cage catalysis: (1) cavity promoted reactions, (2) embedding of active sites in the structure of the cage, and (3) encapsulation of catalysts within the cage. Special emphasis of the review involves (1) introduction of the structure and property of the coordination cage, (2) discussion of the catalytic pathway mediated by the cage, (3) elucidation of the structure-property relationship between the cage and the designated reaction. This work will summarize the recent progress in supramolecular catalysis and attract more researchers to pursue cavity-promoted reactions using discrete coordination cages.

Design and synthesis of capped-paddlewheel-based porous coordination cages

A novel cluster capping strategy is employed to leverage the structural diversity of metal–organic cages toward the isolation of porous cages.

Design and Assembly of Chiral Coordination Cages for Asymmetric Sequential Reactions

Supramolecular nanoreactors featuring multiple catalytically active sites are of great importance, especially for asymmetric catalysis, and are yet challenging to construct. Here we report the design and assembly of five chiral single- and mixed-linker tetrahedral coordination cages using six dicarboxylate ligands derived-from enantiopure Mn(salen), Cr(salen) and/or Fe(salen) as linear linkers and four Cp₃Zr₃ clusters as three-connected vertices. The formation of these cages was confirmed by a variety of techniques including single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The cages feature a nanoscale hydrophobic cavity decorated with the same or different catalytically active sites, and the mixed-linker cage bearing Mn(salen) and Cr(salen) species is shown to be an efficient supramolecular catalyst for sequential asymmetric alkene epoxidation/epoxide ring-opening reactions with up to 99.9% ee. The cage catalyst demonstrates improved activity and enantioselectivity over the free catalysts owing to stabilization of catalytically active metallosalen units and concentration of reactants within the cavity. Manipulation of catalytic organic linkers in cages can control the activities and selectivities, which may provide new opportunities for the design and assembly of novel functional supramolecular architectures.

Modulatingp-hydroxycinnamate behavior as a ditopic linker or photoacid in copper(ii) complexes with an auxiliary pyridine ligand

p-Hydroxycinnamate behaves either as a ditopic linker or as a photoacid in copper(ii) complexes with a suitable auxiliary pyridine ligand.

Facile synthesis of novel porous self-assembling hydrogen-bonding covalent organic polymers and their applications towards fluoroquinolone antibiotics adsorption

A series of porous hydrogen-bonding covalent organic polymers (H_COPs) have been synthesized based on three-composite building blocks through a quick and succinct method for fluoroquinolone antibiotics adsorption from aqueous solutions. The porous properties of the H_COPs were regulated and controlled by adjusting the lengths of linkers, and the crystallinity and stability were strengthened due to the introduction of hydrogen bonds in H_COPs. Taking advantage of the porous properties and π-conjugated phenyl rings, as well as functional –CO–NH– and –COOH groups, H_COPs removed organic pollutants from wastewater effectively and showed good reusability. The external adsorption behavior was analyzed using both kinetic analysis and isotherm analysis. The results showed that the adsorption obeys the pseudo-second order kinetic model and follows the Langmuir isotherm model. The obtained maximum adsorption capacity of the four H_COPs was arranged in sequence according to the specific surface areas and pore sizes. Furthermore, the internal mechanisms involving perforated porousness, electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interaction, π–π electron-donor–acceptor (EDA) interaction and hydrogen bonding formation, were investigated in detail. We envisage broadly applying the H_COPs in the facile and effective management of environmental pollution.

A series of porous hydrogen-bonding covalent organic polymers (H_COPs) have been synthesized based on three-composite building blocks through a quick and succinct method for fluoroquinolone antibiotics adsorption from aqueous solutions.

Encapsulation of Isolated Luminophores within Supramolecular Cages

The sequestration of luminophores within supramolecular polyhedral compartments of a crystalline zeolite-like hydrogen-bonded framework illustrates a unique approach to limiting the self-quenching ordinarily exhibited at the high concentrations achievable in this framework. A range of differently sized luminescent guests, namely coumarin 1, coumarin 4, fluorescein, [Ru(bpy)₃ ]Cl₂ , and rhodamine B, can be encapsulated in amounts of up to one molecule per cage, equivalent to a concentration of 0.175 m, which is significantly higher than the concentration at which aggregation-induced quenching occurs in other media. The luminescence spectra of the encapsulated guests are consistent with the presence of isolated monomers and the absence of self-quenching. The emission color of the single crystals can be tuned readily from blue to red through the choice of guest molecules. These observations promise an approach to organic solid-state lasing compounds if crystals of sufficient size and quality can be prepared.