Covalent organic frameworks from a monomer with reduced symmetry: polymorphism and Sierpiński triangles

We report on the synthesis of a covalent organic framework based on the low-symmetry 1,3-benzenediboronic acid precursor. Two distinct polymorphs are obtained, a honeycomb network and Sierpiński triangles, as elucidated by scanning tunneling microscopy. Control over polymorph formation was achieved by varying the precursor concentration for on-surface synthesis.