Robust Homochiral Porous Molecular Crystals from the Ionic Self-assembly of a Binaphthyl Scaffold

Abstract

Chiral crystalline porous materials demonstrate significant potential in enantiomeric separation, asymmetric catalysis, circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), and chiral sensing. However, constructing stable porous molecular crystals (PMCs) with well-defined chirality and permanent porosity remains challenging. Herein, we report the successful preparation of a pair of homochiral porous molecular crystals (PMCs), denoted as (R)-/(S)-BINAM-PMC, via ionic self-assembly of axially chiral 1,1′-binaphthyl-2,2′-diamine (BINAM) as a basic building block with 4,4′-biphenyldisulfonic acid (BPDS). The ionic pairs formed between sulfonate anions and ammonium cations assemble into one-dimensional (1D) chains through electrostatic interactions, which further extend into two-dimensional (2D) layered structures and ultimately stack into a three-dimensional (3D) porous framework with 1D channels. The material maintains structural and porous integrity after guest removal, demonstrating excellent stability and permanent porosity. Furthermore, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy confirms its distinct chiral nature. This work provides valuable insights for the design and fabrication of stable chiral crystalline porous materials.

Keywords

Porous melecular crystal / Chiral / Ionic self-assemble

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Jilin University, The Editorial Department of Chemical Research in Chinese Universities and Springer-Verlag GmbH