Novel morphologies including cowry-like crystal of polyoxometalates derivatives via coupled twinning between enantiomers

A single-sided, organically decorated Anderson-type polyoxometalates hybrid [AlMo6O18(OH)3{(OCH2)3CNH2}Cl]4- was successfully synthesized. In the presence of a chiral template, the polyoxometalates-organic derivative was crystallized in the chiral space group P21; this was confirmed via single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Interestingly, Cowry-like crystal morphologies with chiral enantiomeric dimers can be formed by adjusting the ionic strength of the solvent, besides chiral template. Furthermore, the crystallization led to a series of crystals with different morphologies by adjusting the supersaturation, besides chiral template and ionic strength. [Display omitted] •Achiral building blocks assemble into chiral crystal.•Identical hybrid presents different phases.•Identical phase presents different morphologies.