Crystalline coordination polymers tend to be brittle and inelastic, however, we now describe a family of such compounds that are capable of displaying mechanical elasticity in response to external pressure. The design approach successfully targets structural features that are critical for producing the desired mechanical output. The elastic crystals all comprise 1D cadmium(II) halide polymeric chains with adjacent metal centres bridged by two halide ions resulting in the required stacking interactions and short “4 Å” crystallographic axes. These polymeric chains (structural “spines”) are further organized via hydrogen bonds and halogen bonds perpendicular to the direction of the chains. By carefully altering the strength and the geometry of these non‐covalent interactions, we have demonstrated that it is possible to control the extent of elastic bending in crystalline coordination compounds.

Crystalline coordination polymers tend to be brittle and inelastic, however, we now describe a family of such compounds that are capable of displaying mechanical elasticity in response to external pressure. The design approach successfully targets structural features that are critical for producing the desired mechanical output. The elastic crystals all comprise 1D cadmium(II) halide polymeric chains with adjacent metal centres bridged by two halide ions resulting in the required stacking interactions and short “4 Å” crystallographic axes. These polymeric chains (structural “spines”) are further organized via hydrogen bonds and halogen bonds perpendicular to the direction of the chains. By carefully altering the strength and the geometry of these non‐covalent interactions, we have demonstrated that it is possible to control the extent of elastic bending in crystalline coordination compounds.

Crystals of a family of six one-dimensional (1D) coordination polymers of cadmium(II) with cyanopyridines [[CdX 2 L 2 ] n , where X = Cl, Br, or I and L = 3-cyanopyridine (3-CNpy) or 4-cyanopyridine (4-CNpy)] presented a variety of morphologies and mechanical responses with dominant twodimensional (2D) anisotropic flexibility, which has not been previously reported. All mechanically adaptable crystals were 2D flexible and displayed a variety of direction-dependent responses; in addition to 2D isotropic flexibility observed for solely elastic materials, 2D anisotropic flexibility was noticed for both elastic and elastic → plastic crystals. The consequences of fine and controlled structural variations on mechanical behavior were additionally explored via microfocus single-crystal X-ray diffraction and complementary theoretical studies, revealing that the relative strength and direction of the hydrogen bonding interactions were the key parameters in delivering a specific mechanical response.

Among the other porous materials, porous organic polymers have already proved as a valuable alternative for the selective adsorption of CO2 over N2. In a rational design of new porous...

The approach for enhancing the elasticity of crystals with suboptimal elastic performances through a rational design was presented. A hydrogen-bonding link was identified as a critical feature in the structure of the parent material, the Cd(II) coordination polymer [CdI2(I-pz)2] n (I-pz = iodopyrazine), to determine the mechanical output and was modified via cocrystallization. Small organic coformers resembling the initial organic ligand but with readily available hydrogens were selected to improve the identified link, and the extent of strengthening the critical link was in an excellent correlation with the delivered enhancement of elastic flexibility materials.

The mechanical adaptability of a family of six one-dimensional crystalline coordination polymers (CPs) of cadmium ([CdX2(3-X′py)2] n ; 1: X = Br, X′ = Cl, 2: X = I, X′ = Cl, 3: X = I, X′ = Br, 4: X = Cl, X′ = I, 5: X = Br, X′ = I, and 6: X, X′ = I) to applied external force was examined, and a plethora of flexible responses was noticed. While two of the six CPs (4 and 6) were slightly elastic, the remaining four CPs (1–3 and 5) presented variable plastic deformation; three of these (1–3) displayed exceptional crystal flow, and one (2) demonstrated unprecedented ductility of crystalline metal–organic material. The feature was examined by theory and custom-designed experiments, and it was shown that specific and directional intermolecular interactions are not only the most influential structural feature in determining the type of mechanical responses (i.e., elastic vs plastic), with interlocking of adjacent molecules playing only a supportive role, but also an unavoidable tool for dialing-in a diversity of plastic responses in Cd­(II) coordination polymers.

Three types of organic solid‐state reactions, dimerizations, dissociations, and Z‐E isomerizations were investigated by using the transformations of aromatic C‐nitroso compounds in crystalline solids as a convenient molecular model. Here we propose a conceptual frame for solid‐state organic reaction mechanisms by examining activation parameters obtained from kinetic measurements under specific experimental conditions. The possibility of the appearance of a sort of short‐lived intermediate liquid phase that constitutes a critical condition for initiating chemical reaction in crystalline solids, similarly to the mechanism for the thermal solid‐state reactions proposed by Paul and Curtin is discussed. The analogy of the proposed concept with the recent hypothesis about the variable rigidity/softness of the reaction cavity in the enzyme reactions, and with the newest molecular dynamic simulation studies of solid phase transformations was considered.

A one-dimensional nickel(II) coordination polymer with the mixed ligands 6-fluoronicotinate (6-Fnic) and 4,4′-bipyridine (4,4′-bpy), namely, catena-poly[[diaquabis(6-fluoropyridine-3-carboxylato-κO)nickel(II)]-μ-4,4′-bipyridine-κ2 N:N′] trihydrate], {[Ni(6-Fnic)2(4,4′-bpy)(H2O)2]·3H2O} n , (1), was prepared by the reaction of nickel(II) sulfate heptahydrate, 6-fluoronicotinic acid (C6H4FNO2) and 4,4′-bipyridine (C10H8N2) in a mixture of water and ethanol. The nickel(II) ion in 1 is octahedrally coordinated by the O atoms of two water molecules, two O atoms from O-monodentate 6-fluoronicotinate ligands and two N atoms from bridging 4,4′-bipyridine ligands, forming a trans isomer. The bridging 4,4′-bipyridine ligands connect symmetry-related nickel(II) ions into infinite one-dimensional polymeric chains running in the [1\overline{1}0] direction. In the extended structure of 1, the polymeric chains and lattice water molecules are connected into a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network via strong O—H...O and O—H...N hydrogen bonds, leading to the formation of distinct hydrogen-bond ring motifs: octameric R 8 8(24) and hexameric R 8 6(16) loops.