Chiral Crown Ether Pillared Lamellar Lanthanide Phosphonates

A new chiral bridging ligand, 2,2‘-pentaethylene glycol-1,1‘-binaphthyl-6,6‘-bis(phosphonic acid), was synthesized in 40.7% overall yield in five steps and used to generate single crystals of the first porous lanthanide phosphonates with chiral crown ether pillars. Single-crystal and powder X-ray crystallography established that these chiral crown ether decorated lamellar solids retain their framework structures after the removal of their included guest molecules and serve as structural models for porous solids that are exploitable for bulk chiral separations.