Rhodium–Organic Cuboctahedra as Porous Solids with Strong Binding Sites

The upbuilding of
dirhodium tetracarboxylate paddlewheels into porous architectures
is still challenging because of the inertness of equatorial carboxylates
for ligand-exchange reaction. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of
a new family of metal–organic cuboctahedra by connecting dirhodium
units through 1,3-benzenedicarboxylate and assembling cuboctahedra
as porous solids. Carbon monoxide and nitric oxide were strongly trapped
in the internal cavity thanks to the strong affinity of unsaturated
axial coordination sites of dirhodium centers.