Coordination polymer

A coordination polymer is an <a href="/facts/Inorganic_polymer/QzAybgAX">inorganic</a> or <a href="/facts/Organometallic_chemistry/bhqFz2P0">organometallic</a> <a href="/facts/Polymer/eF32E50K">polymer</a> structure containing metal cation centers linked by <a href="/facts/Ligands/6etB3qeW">ligands</a>. More formally a coordination polymer is a coordination compound with repeating coordination entities extending in 1, 2, or 3 dimensions.
It can also be described as a polymer whose repeat units are <a href="/facts/Coordination_complex/1tCyeQUm">coordination complexes</a>. Coordination polymers contain the subclass coordination networks that are coordination compounds extending, through repeating coordination entities, in 1 dimension, but with cross-links between two or more individual chains, loops, or spiro-links, or a coordination compound extending through repeating coordination entities in 2 or 3 dimensions. A subclass of these are the <a href="/facts/Metal-organic_framework/gwE4bkCa">metal-organic frameworks</a>, or MOFs, that are coordination networks with organic ligands containing potential voids.
Coordination polymers are relevant to many fields, having many potential applications. 
Coordination polymers can be classified in a number of ways according to their structure and composition. One important classification is referred to as <a href="/facts/Dimensionality/0ktmUyac">dimensionality</a>. A structure can be determined to be one-, two- or three-dimensional, depending on the number of directions in space the array extends in. A one-dimensional structure extends in a straight line (along the x axis); a two-dimensional structure extends in a plane (two directions, x and y axes); and a three-dimensional structure extends in all three directions (x, y, and z axes). This is depicted in Figure 1.

Coordination polymer open-in-new

Coordination polymer