From Coordination Chemistry to Metal-Organic Materials: Structural Principles, Stability, and Emerging Roles in Energy and Functional Materials

Coordination compounds and, more broadly, metal-organic materials have become central to modern chemistry because of their structural tunability, modular synthesis, and broad functional applications. The reviewed paper provides a clear foundation by explaining the nature of the coordinate bond, the role of ligands, coordination number, geometry, stability, and reactivity. These principles are directly relevant to the design of metal-organic frameworks and related materials for energy storage, gas separation, catalysis, sensing, and biomedical applications. In particular, the ability to combine metal nodes with organic linkers in a predictable way has enabled the creation of porous, crystalline architectures with high surface area and adjustable pore environments. Such features make these materials especially promising for hydrogen storage, carbon capture, methane adsorption, batteries, and electrocatalysis. The recent Nobel Prize recognition of Omar Yaghi further highlights the global importance of reticular chemistry and metal-organic frameworks as a transformative platform in materials science. This mini-review summarizes the key concepts from the reference review and extends them to emphasize the importance of metal-organic compounds in energy and advanced materials.