Quantum materials exhibit exotic phenomena arising from the intricate interplay between electronic, magnetic, and lattice degrees of freedom. Traditionally, most such materials are purely inorganic and synthesized under conditions dominated by thermodynamic control. Reticular chemistry, however, provides complementary tools for quantum materials discovery, enabling the design, synthesis, and understanding of systems with unique symmetries and electronic structures.

Metal–ligand assemblies featuring variable or inseparable valence states (“non-innocence”) are widespread in coordination chemistry and offer a route to harness strong electron–electron correlations in extended networks. This strategy provides a realistic means to challenge the current state-of-the-art approaches to quantum materials.

In this lecture, I will present our recent findings in the search for genuinely new symmetries in MOFs and coordination solids, along with their emergent properties. These include metallicity, geometric frustration, valence tautomerism, and exceptionally strong magnetic correlations that give rise to high-temperature magnetic ordering.^[1–9]

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