A metal-organic framework based on an unprecedented nonanuclear cluster as a secondary building unit: structure and gas sorption behavior

A 3D chiral microporous metal-organic framework containing a nonanuclear cluster as a secondary building unit was prepared using a bent and rigid dicarboxylic ligand, 2,7-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid, and the zinc ion, where a nonanuclear cluster with potential exposed metal sites is in the form of a corner-sharing cyclic trimer of a tetrahedral Zn4O motif.