Coordination Architectures for Next-Generation Chemical Sensors: Metal Complexes, Coordination Polymers and MOFs

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the field of chemical sensing has witnessed transformative advances driven by the design of functional coordination compounds—ranging from discrete metal complexes to extended metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and coordination polymers. These materials have emerged as powerful platforms for sensing applications across diverse sectors, including healthcare, environmental monitoring, food safety, and industrial process control. Their rise is fueled not only by the growing global demand for reliable, miniaturized sensors but also by the unique physicochemical attributes inherent to coordination chemistry.

Coordination compounds offer a compelling combination of structural versatility, tunable porosity, and responsive optical, magnetic, or electronic properties. Sensing mechanisms in these materials typically operate through two complementary pathways: (i) physical adsorption/desorption within well-defined pores, which is ideal for gas-phase detection, and (ii) chemical interactions involving reversible coordination bond rearrangements that alter the metal coordination sphere and trigger measurable signals. The dynamic nature of metal–ligand bonds facilitates rapid ligand exchange, often accompanied by dramatic optical responses. Moreover, structural flexibility allows fine-tuning of host–guest interactions, while the choice of ligand and metal geometry can be strategically leveraged to optimize performance at solid–gas or solid–liquid interfaces.

This Special Issue highlights recent breakthroughs in the synthesis, functionalization, and application of metal complexes, MOFs, and coordination polymers as advanced chemical sensors. We showcase innovative approaches that harness their structural and electronic responsiveness to detect gases, ions, biomolecules, and environmental pollutants—with an emphasis on real-world applicability, scalability, and multimodal signal transduction.

Prof. Dr. Tamara Basova
Dr. Darya Klyamer
Guest Editors

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