Coordination Assembly of Metal-Organic Materials

Supramolecular coordination chemistry is the domain of inorganic chemistry beyond the molecules, in which coordination interactions play important roles in self-assembly and properties of coordination supramolecular materials, also called metal-organic materials (MOMs). The MOMs are mainly divided into two different types; discrete or oligomeric coordination entities showing specific shapes, sizes or cavities (such as molecular polygons/polyhedra, helicates, rotaxanes, catenanes, etc.), and infinite/polymeric coordination ensembles assembled from a variable number of components (such as coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks, metal-organic gels, etc.). With the burgeon of supramolecular coordination chemistry, various designable, predictable and tunable strategies of coordination-driven self-assembly have been developed, which propel the field of supramolecular coordination itself, as well as the modern supramolecular syntheses, toward an unprecendently high level. This review mainly introduces a number of common strategies for the preparation of MOMs, especially those for controllable assembly of MOMs with distinctive structural features.