Restructuring of mortise-and-tenon frameworks at the molecular level

Restructuring of mortise-and-tenon frameworks at the molecular level has never been achieved. We report the first example of restructuring in molecular mortise-and-tenon joints (MTF-4 and MTF-5). The obtained cross-locking mortise-and-tenon framework of MTF-5 exhibits higher stability, better mechanical stiffness, and superior optical limiting (OL) performance.