Pre-synthesized secondary building units in the rational synthesis of porous coordination polymers

The tailored synthesis of periodic coordination structures is fundamentally important for the design of porous compounds with desired functionalities. The building block approach allows a rational and modular design of metal-organic frameworks to be accomplished from the scratch. This concept takes the advantage of the structural robustness and fixed geometry of ligands in the pre-synthesized complexes. Moreover, such a synthetic protocol can lead to otherwise unaccessible coordination structures. This review outlines the examples of the successful creation of metal-organic frameworks from discrete polynuclear complexes. We hope this work will inspire researchers in their everlasting quest for the targeted design of the materials with desired functionalities.