Ligand design in multimetallic architectures: six lessons learned

Abstract

Metallosupramolecular chemistry involves the use of combinations of organic ligands and metals for the construction of both discrete and polymeric aggregates. This Account describes some lessons that we have learned about aspects of ligand design in the course of our work in this area. Specifically, we recommend the incorporation of a diverse range of heterocyclic rings and arene cores within the ligands, as well as attention to symmetry considerations, and offer suggestions for the introduction of chirality and flexibility within the ligands and the exploitation of other weak interactions to assist self-assembly processes.