Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks

In the past two decades, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) or porous coordination polymers (PCPs) assembled from metal ions or clusters and organic linkers via metal-ligand coordination bonds have captivated significant scientific interest on account of their high crystallinity, exceptional porosity, and tunable pore size, high modularity, and diverse functionality. The opportunity to achieve functional porous materials by design with promising properties, unattainable for solid-state materials in general, distinguishes MOFs from other classes of materials, in particular, traditional porous materials such as activated carbon, silica, and zeolites, thereby leading to complementary properties. Scientists have conducted intense research in the production of chiral MOF (CMOF) materials for specific applications including but not limited to chiral recognition, separation, and catalysis since the discovery of the first functional CMOF (i.e., d- or l-POST-1). At present, CMOFs have become interdisciplinary between chirality chemistry, coordination chemistry, and material chemistry, which involve in many subjects including chemistry, physics, optics, medicine, pharmacology, biology, crystal engineering, environmental science, etc. In this review, we will systematically summarize the recent progress of CMOFs regarding design strategies, synthetic approaches, and cutting-edge applications. In particular, we will highlight the successful implementation of CMOFs in asymmetric catalysis, enantioselective separation, enantioselective recognition, and sensing. We envision that this review will provide readers a good understanding of CMOF chemistry and, more importantly, facilitate research endeavors for the rational design of multifunctional CMOFs and their industrial implementation.

Coordination-induced spontaneous resolution of a TPPE-based MOF and its use as a crystalline sponge in guest determination

In this work, by virtue of a coordination-induced fixation of the propeller-like conformation of the tetraphenylethylene (TPE) backbone, we achieved a spontaneous resolution of conglomerate-forming enantiomers of [Co(TPPE)Cl2]·4DMF (1M and 1P), as unambiguously probed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Benefitting from the robust, accessible, and electron-rich 1D channels, the chiral MOF turned out to be a good 'crystalline sponge' to adsorb and determine six liquid guests, of which two (2-butanol and 2-butylamine) are crystallized in an enantiospecific manner.

Mg(II) Coordination Polymers Based on Flexible Isomeric Tetracarboxylate Ligands: Syntheses, Structures, Structural Transformation and Luminescent Properties

By using a new flexible tetracarboxylic acid, bis(3,5-dicarboxyphenyl) adipoamide, H₄L¹, and its isomer, bis(2,5-dicarboxyphenyl)adipoamide, H₄L², three Mg(II) coordination polymers, {[Mg₂(L¹)(H₂O)₂]·2EtOH·3H₂O}_n, 1, [Mg₂(L¹)(H₂O)₈]_n, 2, and {[Mg₂(L²)(H₂O)₆]·H₂O}_n, 3, have been hydrothermally synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complexes 1 and 2 are the solvent ratio-dependent hydrothermally stable products. The tetracarboxylate ligand of complex 1 connects eight Mg(II) ions through nine oxygen atoms, resulting in a three-dimensional (3D) 5-connected uninodal net with a rare non-interpenetrating (4⁴.6⁶)-pcu-5-Pmna topology, whereas those of 2 and 3 link four Mg(II) ions through four oxygen atoms and six Mg(II) ions through six oxygen atoms, forming a 1D linear chain and a 3,6-connected 2-nodal 3D net having {4.6²}₂{4².6¹⁰.8³}-rtl topology, respectively. Complex 1 shows a series of structural transformations on heating to 200 °C and almost reversible structural transformation when the activated products were immersed in a mixture of ethanol and water or on hydrothermal. Likewise, complex 2 exhibits a reversible structural transformation on heating/hydrothermal, while 3 exhibits irreversible structural transformations. All three complexes exhibit blue light emissions, with that of complex 3 being much more intense.

A simple but efficient strategy to enhance hydrostability of intensely fluorescent Mg-based coordination polymer (CP) via forming a composite of CP with hydrophobic PVDF

A coordination polymer (CP) of Mg(2+) with 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate (BTC(3-)) was synthesized using a solvothermal method. The Mg-CP, with a formula of Mg3(BTC)(HCOO)3(DMF)3, crystallizes in the trigonal space group P3[combining macron], with cell parameters of a = b = 13.972(5) Å, c = 8.090(5) Å and V = 1367.6(11) Å(3), and shows a lamella structure built from planar rosette-type hexanuclear architectures. The Mg-CP emits intense blue fluorescence arising from π* → π transition of intra-ligand of BTC(3-) with 21.69% quantum yield, yet it exhibits poor stability to water. The composites of Mg-CP with hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were sequentially prepared by mechanically mixed, tableted and annealed processes, which showed good compatibility between Mg-CP and PVDF, high hydrostability, and intense blue emission. This study suggests a simple but efficient method to solve the drawbacks of some functional CPs unstable to water and to promote them as practical applications in the field of functional materials.