Reticular synthesis was used by Yaghi and coworkers in 2005 to construct the first two COFs reported in the literature: COF-1, using a dehydration reaction of benzenediboronic acid (BDBA), and COF-5, via a condensation reaction between hexahydroxytriphenylene (HHTP) and BDBA. These framework scaffolds were interconnected through the formation of boroxine and boronate linkages, respectively, using solvothermal synthetic methods.