Catenation of Homochiral Metal–Organic Nanocages or Nanotubes

Catenation based
on homochiral metal–organic nanocages or
nanotubes is realized in this work for the first time. A flexible
enantiopure ligand is employed to assemble metal ions, with the structure-directing
effect of an auxiliary ligand, a triangular-prism-like nanocage, and
a nanotube successfully built. Further 0D → 3D catenation is
achieved by interlocking the nanocages, and 1D → 3D catenation
based on nanotubes is also presented. This work reveals extraordinary
catenating architectures from molecular cages and tubes.