Bent tritopic carboxylates for coordination networks: clues to the origin of self-penetration

We suggest in this paper that the combinative use of bent tritopic carboxylate, linear dipyridyl and adaptable Cu2+ ion leads to a higher probability of self-penetrated polymeric networks. This assertion is supported by four structures isolated herein, among which two are self-penetrated, highlighting the potential for controlled assembly of self-penetrating networks.