Cation-controlled capture of polyoxovanadate-based organic-inorganic 1D architectures.

Metal cations are used to control the selective crystallization of organic-inorganic supramolecular polymers. Two complementary monomers, a dodecanuclear vanadate [V 12 O 32 (NO 3 )] 5- and the organic macrocycle cyclen assemble into hybrid host-guest aggregates. In the presence of Ba 2+ or La 3+ , supramolecular polymerization and crystallization is driven by a complex interplay of cyclene protonation, hydrogen-bonding and electrostatics.