Porous metal-organic truncated octahedron constructed from paddle-wheel squares and terthiophene links.

A metal-organic truncated octahedron (termed MOP-28) has been constructed from six rigid square-shaped Cu2(CO2)4 paddle-wheel building units and twelve 2,2':5',2' '-terthiophene-5,5' '-dicarboxylate (TTDC) linkers. TTDC linker in the cis,cis conformation provides the critical 90 degrees linkage for this unique construction. The porous structure of MOP-28 is maintained even after the removal of guest species, as evidenced by this compound's nitrogen sorption isotherm of Type I characteristics and unprecedented surface area (Langmuir surface area 1100 m2/g, BET surface area 914 m2/g) among materials composed of discrete molecules.