Chapter 7: Ball-milling Mechanochemical Synthesis of Coordination Bonds: Discrete Units, Polymers and Porous Materials

The applications of mechanochemistry in the synthesis of coordination compounds and metal–organic materials have been rapidly expanding over the past 12 years. Today, these applications range from the synthesis of discrete coordination complexes, organometallics, coordination polymers and microporous metal–organic frameworks to materials of pharmaceutical importance and metallodrugs. This chapter provides a brief account of the current state of metal–organic mechanochemical synthesis, the benefits it offers for the synthesis of metal–organic materials, especially in the context of clean and efficient synthesis of functional solids. This overview addresses experimental techniques most relevant to metal–organic mechanosynthesis, as well as the predominant synthetic strategies, latest developments in mechanistic understanding, and most important aspects of synthetic scope, with particular focus on making porous metal–organic frameworks, luminescent metal–organic materials and pharmaceutically relevant solids.