Chiral Metal–Coordination Polymers: Hierarchical Chirality, Synthesis, and Functional Applications
ABSTRACT Chiral metal‐coordination polymers (MCPs), which integrate asymmetric molecular environments, tunable coordination architectures, and metal‐centered electronic states, provide a versatile platform for engineering stereochemical, optical, electronic, and spin‐dependent properties. This Review provides a hierarchical perspective on the design and functionality of chiral MCPs. We first examine the manifestation of chirality across molecular, extended coordination‐structural, and mesoscopic length scales, highlighting how local stereochemical information is encoded, propagated, or collectively generated within extended architectures and subsequently expressed through hierarchical structural organization. We then survey four principal strategies for constructing chiral MCPs: direct assembly from chiral precursors, chiral induction from achiral components, spontaneous resolution of achiral building units, and post‐synthetic modification. We further discuss emerging applications in enantioselective catalysis, chiral recognition, chiral‐induced spin selectivity (CISS), and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), with emphasis on how structural chirality governs functional performance. Finally, we identify key challenges and opportunities in establishing mechanism‐resolved structure–function relationships, enabling predictive materials design, integrating multiple chirality‐dependent functions, and translating chiral MCPs into device‐compatible architectures. This Review establishes a conceptual framework for understanding and engineering chirality across multiple length scales, and aims to guide the rational development of next‐generation multifunctional chiral MCPs.
Authors
- Jingjing Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2197-8062)
- Zhijie Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5012-9852)
- Xin Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1161-8952)
Institutions
- Shandong University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2026-11-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.79596
- Primary Topic
- Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00