Supramolecular isomerism in honeycomb metal-organic frameworks driven by CH···π interactions: homochiral crystallization from an achiral ligand through chiral inducement.

The solvothermal reaction of Zn(NO(3))(2)·6H(2)O and 4,4',4''-(2,4,6-trimethylbenzene-1,3,5-triyl)tribenzoic acid (H(3)TMTA) in N,N'-diethylformamide or N,N-dimethylacetamide gave rise to two layered honeycomb frameworks. The different stacking arrangements of the 2D layers generate achiral (α-1) and chiral (β-1) architectures, which are supramolecular isomers. The homochiral crystallization of β-1 can be achieved through chiral inducement, which is confirmed by circular dichroism spectra.