Pathology

Nanotechnology

Engineering physics

Porosity

Reticular connective tissue

Operating system

Solid-state

Engineering

Composite material

Materials science

Computer science

Process (computing)

Medicine

Nature

The long-standing challenge of designing and constructing new crystalline solid-state materials from molecular building blocks is just beginning to be addressed with success. A conceptual approach that requires the use of secondary building units to direct the assembly of ordered frameworks epitomizes this process: we call this approach reticular synthesis. This chemistry has yielded materials designed to have predetermined structures, compositions and properties. In particular, highly porous frameworks held together by strong metal–oxygen–carbon bonds and with exceptionally large surface area and capacity for gas storage have been prepared and their pore metrics systematically varied and functionalized.

Reticular synthesis and the design of new materials