1 D Tubular and 2 D Metal–Organic Frameworks Based on a Flexible Amino Acid Derived Organic Spacer

Flexible, yet rigid! A ligand derived from glutamic acid generates chiral MOF architectures ranging from 1D to 2D that are organized in the crystal through a complex hierarchy of coordination and hydrogen bonds that include encapsulation of solvent molecules. The flexibility of the ligand backbone gives access to several topologies and dimensionalities depending on the type of metal center used in the synthesis. magnified image The organic ligand bgxH4, resulting from the condensation of two glutamate moieties on a xylene core, has been designed to generate chiral metal–organic frameworks with increased metal–metal distances in order to favor their potential porosity. The in situ reactivity of the ligand, through cyclization, led to the bpgxH2 ligand, which displays an extremely rich architectural potential. Under formate‐generating conditions, two 1D tubular and one 2D MOFs based on bpgxH2 have been obtained, incorporating up to three different organic linkers, and organized in an exquisite hierarchical way by the combined effects of the flexibility, the coordinating groups, and the H‐bonding groups of the ligand. Furthermore, the tubular structures display pockets where water molecules are encapsulated.