Grid-Type Metal Ion Architectures: Functional Metallosupramolecular Arrays

Recent advances in supramolecular coordination chemistry allow access to transition‐metal complexes of grid‐type architecture comprising two‐dimensional arrays of metal ions connecting a set of organic ligands in a perpendicular arrangement to generate a multiple wiring network. General design principles for these structures involve the thermodynamically driven synthesis of complex discrete objects from numerous molecular components in a single overall operation. Such supramolecular metal ion arrays combine the properties of their constituent metal ions and ligands, showing unique optical, electrochemical, and magnetic behavior. These features present potential relevance for nanotechnology, particularly in the area of supramolecular devices for information storage and processing. Thus, a dense organization of addressable units is represented by an extended “grid‐of‐grids” arrangement, formed by interaction of grid‐type arrays with solid surfaces. Ions and information: The generation by self‐assembly of metal ion arrays of grid‐type architecture (left) with unique magnetic, electronic, or optical properties could provide decisive impulses for the development of molecular information storage and processing (right). Such two‐dimensionally arrayed switchable elements of nanometric size display “ion dot” type features, which are of much smaller size than quantum dots arrays, and which may foreshadow multistate nano‐digital information processing.