Oxamato-based coordination polymers: recent advances in multifunctional magnetic materials

The design and synthesis of novel examples of multifunctional magnetic materials based on the so-called coordination polymers (CPs) have become very attractive for chemists and physicists due to their potential applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology. However, their preparation is still an experimental challenge, which requires a deep knowledge of coordination chemistry and large skills in organic chemistry. The recent advances in this field using a molecular-programmed approach based on rational self-assembly methods which fully exploit the versatility of the coordination chemistry of the barely explored and evergreen family of N-substituted aromatic oligo(oxamato) ligands are presented in this feature article. These exploratory studies have revealed a wide variety of interesting multifunctional magnetic materials such as optically-active chiral and luminescent magnets or dynamic porous magnets as candidates for chemical sensing. Our feeling, however, is that we have only scratched the surface of the topic and that there are many more exciting brand-new molecule-based materials waiting to be discovered.