Face‐Directed Assembly of Molecular Cubes: In Situ Substitution of a Predetermined Concave Cluster
Yaru Gong, Chao Qin, Yuteng Zhang, Chunyi Sun, Qinhe Pan, Xinlong Wang, Zhong‐Min Su
Abstract
Abstract Systematic design and self‐assembly of metal–organic polyhedra with predictable configurations has been a long‐standing challenge in crystal engineering. Herein a concave polyoxovanadate cluster, [V 6 O 6 (OCH 3 ) 9 (SO 4 ) 4 ] 5− , which can be generated in situ under specific reaction conditions, is reported. Based on this cluster, a potential trivalent molecular building block, [V 6 O 6 (OCH 3 ) 9 (SO 4 )(CO 2 ) 3 ] 2− , can be obtained by the bridging‐ligand‐substitution strategy and it possesses appropriate angle information for the design of molecular cubes. Utilizing the face‐directed assembly of the trivalent molecular building block and a diverse set of tetratopic carboxylate linkers, a series of metal–organic cubes ( VMOC‐1 – VMOC‐5 ) with the same topology but different functionalities and dimensions were designed and constructed. An inclusion study using VMOC‐3 shows that they are potential molecular receptors for selective capture of size‐matching polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon guest molecules.