Structural origin of chirality and properties of a remarkable helically pillared solid.

A new helically pillared and chiral solid, Cu(pzc)2AgReO4 (I, pzc = pyrazinecarboxylate), was synthesized from hydrothermal reactions at 95-125 degrees C. The structural origin of its chirality, relative to the achiral M(pzc)2(H2O)2AgReO4 (II, M = Co; III, M = Ni) analogues, arises from significantly tilted pillars and hydrogen bonds to the AgReO4 layers. The new pillared structure exhibits second harmonic generation activity, CO2 absorption, thermal stability to approximately 250 degrees C, and Curie-Weiss magnetism expected for isolated Cu2+.