A Cubic 3D Covalent Organic Framework with nbo Topology

The synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) requires high-connectivity polyhedral building blocks or the controlled alignment of building blocks. Here, we use the latter strategy to assemble square-planar cobalt(II) phthalocyanine (PcCo) units into the nbo topology by using tetrahedral spiroborate (SPB) linkages that were chosen to provide the necessary 90° dihedral angles between neighboring PcCo units. This yields a porous 3D COF, SPB-COF-DBA, with a noninterpenetrated nbo topology. SPB-COF-DBA shows high crystallinity and long-range order, with 11 resolved diffraction peaks in the experimental powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) pattern. This well-ordered crystal lattice can also be imaged by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). SPB-COF-DBA has cubic pores and exhibits permanent porosity with a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 1726 m2 g–1.