Chiral Induction in the Ionothermal Synthesis of a 3-D Coordination Polymer

A new chiral coordination polymer, (BMIm)2[Ni(TMA-H)2(H2O)2], was prepared ionothermally from chiral ionic liquid. The use of l-aspartate as one component of the ionic liquid induces chirality in the resulting solid, despite the fact that the anion is not occluded by the material and that the solid itself is built from only nonchiral building blocks. Without the chiral component, an achiral compound is formed under the same synthesis conditions.