Organic Molecules with Porous Crystal Structures

Porous materials have numerous applications of relevance to energy, the environment, and catalysis. A relatively recent addition to the field are porous molecular crystals, whose solid-state structures contain discrete molecules held together only by weak noncovalent forces. This contribution summarizes recent developments in the area, before providing an account of our own adventures in the field which are centered on the creation of robust fluorinated porous molecular crystals. We will also present the recent discovery of a one-step synthesis of a new class of macrocycles dubbed cyclobenzoins; an example is given of such a shape-persistent structure that translates into mild porosity in the solid state. 1 Introduction 2 Early Days 3 Intrinsically Porous Molecular Crystals 4 Extrinsically Porous Molecular Crystals 5 Fluorinated Porous Molecular Crystals 6 Cyclobenzoins: Shape-Persistent and Intrinsically Porous? 7 Conclusions