Metal complexes of cinchonine as chiral building blocks: a strategy for the construction of nanotubular architectures and helical coordination polymers.

The first chiral bipyridyl-type metalloligands based on aluminum derivatives of cinchonine (CN-H) were synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. These bischelate complexes, (CN)(2)AlX [X = Cl (1a), Me (1b)] were found to be effective building blocks for the preparation of novel helical nanotubular architectures as well as chiral bimetallic coordination polymers, as demonstrated by the rational synthesis of a helical structure formed by 1a and ZnCl(2). The applied methodology stands as an exemplary strategy for the rational synthesis of chiral metal-organic frameworks through self-organization driven by nonbonding interactions or coordination, which could potentially find applications in enantioselective separations and catalysis.