Coordination polymers with nucleobases: From structural aspects to potential applications

• We summarized the state-of-the-art in coordination polymers containing nucleobases.
• A collection of structures and properties of these novel materials.
• Perspectives for this field in the frontier between the coordination chemistry and materials science are pointed out.

This review article focuses on the current state-of-the-art of coordination polymers using nucleobases as ligands. It collects the literature already published in a comprehensive way and attempts to provide perspectives for this research field. The article integrates two important concepts of coordination chemistry, metal–nucleobase chemistry and coordination polymers. It tries to demonstrate novel opportunities for these coordination polymers in terms of architectures and potential applications. The text is presented in three general sections according to the dimensionality of the coordination polymer, and then is subdivided in sections that take into account the structural role of the nucleobase as ligand (either terminal or bridging), and the nature of the nucleobase (pyrimidine vs purine). Synthetic, structural aspects and physico-chemical properties are presented for each sample. Valuable potential applications and perspectives for these novel materials are also discussed.

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