Playing with isostructurality: from tectons to molecular alloys and composite crystals

摘要

The combination of isomorphous and isometric porous crystals based on charge-assisted H-bonding leads to molecular alloys and composite crystals.rnFor the "bottom up" strategy, i.e. the generation of materials from molecular components, the understanding and tuning of properties (chemical or physical) require the control of self-assembly processes. Following the statement by Dunitz "A crystal is, in a sense, the supramolecule par excellence," an approach called molecular tectonics, combining molecular recognition events with self-assembly processes, was developed over the last ca. two decades. For this approach, molecular crystals are seen as infinite periodic architectures resulting from the interconnection of building blocks or tectons. Thus, this strategy is concerned with the design of connectivity patterns and their translation in space leading to the formation of molecular networks in the crystalline phase. Here, using a series of isostructural crystals, we describe the formation of porous molecular alloys and composite crystals generated by 3-D epitaxial growth.