Threading Cesium Ions: Metal, Host, and Ligand Control in Supramolecular Coordination Chemistry

Threads of cesium ions can be generated through supramolecular coordination chemistry in a one-pot synthesis. The cesium ions are threaded together, like in a pearl necklace, with surprisingly short interatomic distances. The figure shows the space-filling model of the dicationic repeating unit of the 1D coordination polymer (left) and the cesium threads alone in the unit cell (right). C black, Cs green, Cu yellow, O red, N blue.