Facile fabrication of recyclable robust noncovalent porous crystals from low-symmetry helicene derivative

摘要: Porous frameworks constructed via noncovalent interactions show wide potential in molecular separation and gas adsorption. However, it remains a major challenge to prepare these materials from low-symmetry molecular building blocks. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate noncovalent porous crystals through modular self-assembly of a low-symmetry helicene racemate. The P and M enantiomers in the racemate first stack into right-and left-handed triangular prisms, respectively, and subsequently the two types of prisms alternatively stack together into a hexagonal network with one-dimensional channels with a diameter of 14.5 Å. Remarkably, the framework reveals high stability upon heating to 275 C, majorly due to the abundant π-interactions between the complementarily engaged helicene building blocks. Such porous framework can be readily prepared by fast rotary evaporation, and is easy to …