Enantiopure phosphonic acids as chiral inducers: homochiral crystallization of cobalt coordination polymers showing field-induced slow magnetization relaxation.

This Communication reports, for the first time, that enantiopure phosphonic acids can serve as chirality-inducing agents towards homochiral coordination polymers. Hence homochiral chain compounds (M)- or (P)-Co(SO4)(1,3-bbix)(H2O)(3) (1M or 1P) are obtained successfully using an achiral precursor of 1,3-bis((1H-benzo[d]imidazol-1-yl)methyl)benzene (1,3-bbix) in the presence of a catalytic amount of (S)- or (R)-3-phenyl-2-((phosphonomethyl)amino)propanoic acid [(S)- or (R)-2-ppapH(3)]. Furthermore, compound 1M provides the first example of homochiral cobalt compounds showing field-induced single ion magnet behavior.