Truncated octahedral coordination cage incorporating six tetranuclear-metal building blocks and twelve linear edges

The self-assembly of cationic tetranuclear-metal building blocks generated in situ based on p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene and linear anionic ligands (1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) gave rise to an anionic truncated octahedral coordination cage through a [6 + 12] condensation. This research provides a new building block with unique geometry to construct coordination cages with multifunctional properties.