Synthetic strategies towards chiral coordination polymers

Chiral coordination polymers and porous chiral MOFs have great potential as agents for enantioselective separations, sensing, and catalysis due to their well-structured internal chiral cavities. They also have physical properties that may be exploited, such as non-linear optical activity, ferroelectrics, magnetochiral dichroism, and use as chemical shift reagents. There are many ways in which chiral coordination polymers can be synthesised and the file has grown tremendously over the pasta two decades. In this review, we will discuss some of the main synthetic approaches that have been taken towards this fascinating class of materials. The main focus will be placed on synthetic approaches using enantiopure ligands, the route that is most likely to yield homochiral network solids. We will highlight the applications of many examples, noting how the design of the frameworks influences their application. Whilst this is a mature field, there still lies huge potential for functional chiral materials, and we aim to demonstrate areas that are ripe for exploration. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Chiral coordination polymers and porous chiral MOFs have great potential for enantioselective separations, sensing, and catalysis due to their well-structured internal chiral cavities. Various synthetic approaches have been developed over the past two decades, with a focus on using enantiopure ligands to yield homochiral network solids that influence the applications of these materials. Despite being a mature field, there is still huge potential for functional chiral materials, and areas ripe for exploration are highlighted.