Copper(I) halides: A versatile family in coordination chemistry and crystal engineering

The copper(I) halide aggregates represent a versatile family in coordination chemistry and crystal engineering. First discovered a century ago these species have been intensively investigated in the last three decades because of their structural and luminescent uniqueness. This account reviews their research history and frontier (Section 1), synthetic routes (Section 2) and structural diversity (Section 3), and also offers personal perspectives (Section 4) on the growth, property and application of the copper(l) halide aggregates in coordination polymers. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.