Beyond conventional: Role of chiral metal-organic frameworks in asymmetric scenarios

Over the past twenty years, a wide range of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been developed. MOFs exhibit interesting behaviors owing to the complex interactions between metal ions or clusters and organic linkers through metal-ligand coordination bonds. The crystalline order and atomic arrangement of MOFs result in porous network structures with a high degree of flexibility for hosting a wide range of guest molecules. The modularity of MOFs makes them highly customizable, offering possibilities beyond the scope of typical porous materials, such as activated carbon, silica, and zeolites. Recently, chiral MOFs have attracted research attention for asymmetric applications because a wide range of properties can be obtained by carefully selecting their metal and ligand constituents. In addition, the complex interaction between guest molecules and the underlying framework enables novel functionalities. The interdisciplinary field of chiral MOFs includes elements of chirality chemistry, coordination chemistry, and material chemistry, and their applications extend to chemistry, physics, optics, medicine, pharmacology, crystal engineering, and environmental science. This comprehensive review systematically summarizes the recent advancements in chiral MOFs, including the design strategies, synthesis methods, and cutting-edge applications. The main goal of this review article was to provide readers with a deep understanding of chiral MOF chemistry to stimulate research initiatives toward the rational development of multifunctional chiral MOFs with industrial relevance.