Shape-Controlled Synthesis and Self-Sorting of Covalent Organic Cage Compounds.

The directional bonding approach is a powerful tool to rationally control both shape and stoichiometry of three-dimensional objects built from rigid building blocks under dynamic covalent conditions. Co-condensation of catechol-functionalized tribenzotriquinacene derivatives which have 90° angles between the reactive sites and diboronic acids with bite angles of 60°, 120°, and 180°, led to the efficient formation of, respectively, bipyramidal, tetrahedral, or cubic covalent organic cage compounds in a predictable manner. Investigations on the self-sorting of ternary mixtures containing two competitive boronic acids revealed either narcissistic or social self-sorting depending on the stability of the segregated cages relative to feasible three-component assemblies.