Reticular Chemistry in All Dimensions

Chemistry, first and foremost, is concerned with the geometry that atoms and molecules adopt in space. Whether we are pursuing chemical reactions or studying the properties of materials, inevitably we seek to know and understand the geometrical aspects of chemical structures. Indeed, it has been historically the case that no matter how far chemists veer away from this practice, especially when racing toward making materials that “benefit” society, they come back to questions regarding how atoms are linked into molecules and how molecules interact with each other to account for their observations. It has also been our quest, once we acquire this knowledge, to use it for controlling chemical structures and in many ways “bending them to our will”. Chemists have done so for molecules (0D) and to some extent polymers (1D), but beyond these our ability to express control in infinite 2D and 3D remained undeveloped throughout the twentieth century.