Nets of coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks

Nets of coordination polymers and metal-organic frameworks 

These building blocks can be combined into nets (or networks) where the net, whether 1-, 2- or 3-dimensional, is sometimes called a coordination polymer if it is held together by metal-ligand or coordination bonds. For the 3D-case, metal-organic frameworks can be used. The acronym MOF for metal-organic framework should be avoided since the parent term is not yet well established and there seem to be no great need for an abbreviation in the context where it is used. 

The conclusion is that, whether we like it or not, coordination polymer is a term we have to live with. In this context we should also point out that searching the chemical literature is made difficult if old terms are continuously exchanged for new fancier words indeed, the main argument for language conservatism in general is that we should be able to read older texts in our own language without a dictionary. 

Note also that a hydrogen bonded network of coordination complexes is not a coordination polymer - the polymerisation must be by coordination bonds. 

We will occasionally refer to coordination polymer , as opposed to hydrogen bound nets, but framework and metal-organic will rarely appear. However, as scientific descendants of a long line of inorganic chemists, we will use complex and coordination throughout the text. 

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