Ring-size controllable metallamacrocycles as building blocks for the construction of microporous metal–organic frameworks

Presented here is a new strategy for the synthesis of metallamacrocycles (MC[n]) with different ring-size and guest selectivity via integrating a flexible trinuclear metal unit and a bridging organic ligand, and further body-centered cubic packing of these MCs results in the formation of three microporous MOFs for potential application in gas storage.