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Face‐Directed Assembly of Molecular Cubes: In Situ Substitution of a Predetermined Concave Cluster
Author(s) -
Gong Yaru,
Qin Chao,
Zhang Yuteng,
Sun Chunyi,
Pan Qinhe,
Wang Xinlong,
Su Zhongmin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202010824
Subject(s) - chemistry , cluster (spacecraft) , ligand (biochemistry) , polyhedron , molecule , crystal engineering , template , carboxylate , block (permutation group theory) , stereochemistry , topology (electrical circuits) , crystallography , nanotechnology , combinatorial chemistry , materials science , crystal structure , computer science , organic chemistry , supramolecular chemistry , receptor , combinatorics , mathematics , biochemistry , programming language
Systematic design and self‐assembly of metal–organic polyhedra with predictable configurations has been a long‐standing challenge in crystal engineering. Herein a concave polyoxovanadate cluster, [V 6 O 6 (OCH 3 ) 9 (SO 4 ) 4 ] 5− , which can be generated in situ under specific reaction conditions, is reported. Based on this cluster, a potential trivalent molecular building block, [V 6 O 6 (OCH 3 ) 9 (SO 4 )(CO 2 ) 3 ] 2− , can be obtained by the bridging‐ligand‐substitution strategy and it possesses appropriate angle information for the design of molecular cubes. Utilizing the face‐directed assembly of the trivalent molecular building block and a diverse set of tetratopic carboxylate linkers, a series of metal–organic cubes ( VMOC‐1 – VMOC‐5 ) with the same topology but different functionalities and dimensions were designed and constructed. An inclusion study using VMOC‐3 shows that they are potential molecular receptors for selective capture of size‐matching polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon guest molecules.