Scientific and technological interest in porous materials with molecule-sized channels and cavities has led to an intense search for controlled chemical routes to systems with specific properties. This Account details our work on directing the assembly of open-framework structures based on molecules and investigating how the response of nanoporous examples of such materials to guests differs from classical rigid porous systems. The stabilization of chiral nanoporosity by a hierarchy of interactions that both direct and maintain a helical open-framework structure exemplifies the approach.

Two families of molecular frameworks which grow as homochiral single crystals are described. Both consist of multiple interpenetration of the three-connected chiral (10,3)-a (Y*) network and result from the tridentate coordination of the 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate (btc) ligand to octahedral metal centers which act as linear connectors. The nature of the interpenetration is controlled by the auxiliary ligands bound in the equatorial plane of the metal center. Ethylene glycol (eg) binds in a unidentate fashion to form phase A which has 28% accessible solvent volume and contains four interpenetrating (10,3)-a networks. 1,2-Propanediol (1,2-pd) coordinates as a bidentate ligand to yield a phase B with a greatly enhanced 51% of solvent accessible volume, because only two (distorted) (10,3)-a‘ networks interpenetrate. Ligands in the void space and bound to the metal center can both be liberated thermally:  the kinetics of this process allow isolation of microporous desolvated crystalline A and B. The porous phases lose crystallinity reversibly upon further loss of ligands bound to the equatorial metal:  crystallinity is restored upon exposure to the vapors of simple alcohols, which can also effect conversion of B to A. Both phases present interpenetrating network topologies that are unique to chemistry and adopt space groups that are new for molecular solids:  A crystallizes in P4232 and B adopts I4132. B can be grown homochirally from enantiomerically pure diol template. The stereochemistry of the alcohol bound to the metal controls the helicity of the chiral framework. The structure determination of the 1,2-propanediol phase represents the first demonstration that chiral molecules can specifically template helix handedness in a chiral porous framework solid.

This study combines measurements of the thermodynamics and kinetics of guest sorption with powder X-ray diffraction measurements of the nanoporous metal organic framework adsorbent (host) at different adsorptive (guest) loadings. The adsorption characteristics of nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and ethanol and methanol vapors on Ni2(4,4'-bipyridine)3(NO3)4 were studied over a range of temperatures as a function of pressure. Isotherm steps were observed for both carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide adsorption at approximately 10-20% of the total pore volume and at approximately 70% of total pore volume for methanol adsorption. The adsorption kinetics obey a linear driving force (LDF) mass transfer model for adsorption at low surface coverage. At high surface coverage, both methanol and ethanol adsorption follow a combined barrier resistance/diffusion model. The rates of adsorption in the region of both the carbon dioxide and methanol isotherm steps were significantly slower than those observed either before or after the step. X-ray diffraction studies at various methanol loadings showed that the host structure disordered initially but underwent a structural change in the region of the isotherm step. These isotherm steps are ascribed to discrete structural changes in the host adsorbent that are induced by adsorption on different sites. Isotherm steps were not observed for ethanol adsorption, which followed a Langmuir isotherm. Previous X-ray crystallography studies have shown that all the sites are equivalent for ethanol adsorption on Ni2(4,4'-bipyridine)3(NO3)4, with the host structure undergoing a scissoring motion and the space group remaining unchanged during adsorption. The activation energies and preexponential factors for methanol and ethanol adsorption were calculated for each pressure increment at which the linear driving force model was obeyed. There was a good correlation between activation energy and ln(preexponential factor), indicating a compensation effect. The results are discussed in terms of reversible adsorbate/adsorbent (guest/host) structural changes and interactions and the adsorption mechanism. The paper contains the first evidence of specific interactions between guests and functional groups leading to structural change in flexible porous coordination polymer frameworks.