Unprecedented Topological Complexity in a Metal-Organic Framework Constructed from Simple Building Units.

A bismuth-based metal-organic framework (MOF), [Bi(BTC)(H2O)]·2H2O·MeOH denoted CAU-17, was synthesized and found to have an exceptionally complicated structure with helical Bi-O rods cross-linked by 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate (BTC(3-)) ligands. Five crystallographically independent 1D channels including two hexagonal channels, two rectangular channels, and one triangular channel have accessible diameters of 9.6, 9.6, 3.6, 3.6, and 3.4 Å, respectively. The structure is further complicated by twinning. Rod-incorporated MOF structures typically have underlying nets with only one unique node and three or four unique edges. In contrast, topological analysis of CAU-17 revealed unprecedented complexity for a MOF structure with 54 unique nodes and 135 edges. The complexity originates from the rod packing and the rods themselves, which are related to aperiodic helices.