Crystallographic–Morphological Connections in Star Shaped Metal–Organic Frameworks
Maria Chiara di Gregorio, Vivek Singh, Linda J. W. Shimon, Michal Lahav, Milko E. van der Boom
Abstract
The symmetry of a crystal’s morphology usually reflects the symmetry of the crystallographic packing. For single crystals, the space and point groups allow only a limited number of mathematical descriptions of the morphology (forms), all of which are convex polyhedrons. In contrast, concave polyhedrons are a hallmark of twinning and polycrystallinity and are typically inconsistent with single crystallinity. Here we report a new type of structure: a concave polyhedron shape single crystal having a multidomain appearance and a rare space group (P622). Despite these unusual structural features, the hexagonal symmetry is revealed at the morphological levels.