Reversible Concerted Ligand Substitution at Alternating Metal Sites in an Extended Solid
Darren Bradshaw,1
John E. Warren,2
Matthew J. Rosseinsky1*
We report a synthetic material, [Co2(bipy)3(SO4)2(H2O)2](bipy) (CH3OH), (1, where bipy = 4,4'-bipyridyl) that contains discrete reactive and inert structural motifs that undergo a reversible substitution reaction involving the concerted and spatially controlled introduction of bipyridine and methanol molecules at the reactive sites. This reaction defines the pore geometry of the resulting open-framework structure and controls the manner in which this structure sorbs small molecules. The molecules involved in the reaction are positioned by an array of well-defined interactions during their path to binding to the metal centers.
1 Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZD, UK.
2 Synchrotron Radiation Source, Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD, UK.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: m.j.rosseinsky{at}liv.ac.uk
