A saccharide-based crystalline sponge for hydrophilic guests.

A coordination network composed of a mannose-based organic ligand and a sodium ion, 'sugar sponge', was synthesized for the crystalline sponge analysis of hydrophilic compounds. Owing to multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions, hydrophilic guests are firmly trapped in the 1-dimensional channel. The sugar sponge was utilized to analyze the structures of flexible alcohol and absolute configurations of chiral epoxides.