Homochiral Metal–Organic Frameworks

The main focus of this contribution is synthetic aspects of homochiral metal-organic frameworks (HMOFs) and a brief outlook on application of these materials in asymmetric catalysis, enantiomeric separation, chiral recognition and magnetism. Elaborate discussion on synthetic methodologies and structural aspects of HMOFs with suitable illustrations is presented. Synthetic methods including use of enantiopure precursors, post-synthetic incorporation of chiral functionalities, chirality induction and interesting crystallization events of spontaneous resolution and mirror symmetry breaking are discussed with suitable examples. Special emphasize is given on the possible sources of homochirality in MOF structures such as chirality around metal centres, chiral linkers/auxiliaries/templates, homohelical assemblies and inherent chirality of the frameworks. Development of the field during past two and half decades, its present challenges and insights to address the challenges towards the future generation of HMOFs has been underscored with appropriate citation to the relevant literature.