Reticular synthesis enables facile bottom-up synthesis of the framework materials to introduce precise perturbations in chemical composition, resulting in the highly controlled tunability of framework properties. Through a bottom-up approach, a material is built from atomic or molecular components synthetically as opposed to a top-down approach, which forms a material from the bulk through approaches such as exfoliation, lithography, or other varieties of post-synthetic modification. The bottom-up approach is especially advantageous with respect to materials such as COFs because the synthetic methods are designed to directly result in an extended, highly crosslinked framework that can be tuned with exceptional control at the nanoscale level. Geometrical and dimensional principles govern the framework's resulting topology as the SBUs combine to form predetermined structures. This level of synthetic control has also been termed "molecular engineering", abiding by the concept termed by Arthur R. von Hippel in 1956.
It has been established in the literature that, when integrated into an isoreticular framework, such as a COF, properties from monomeric compounds can be synergistically enhanced and amplified. COF materials possess the unique ability for bottom-up reticular synthesis to afford robust, tunable frameworks that synergistically enhance the properties of the precursors, which, in turn, offers many advantages in terms of improved performance in different applications. As a result, the COF material is highly modular and tuned efficiently by varying the SBUs’ identity, length, and functionality depending on the desired property change on the framework scale. Ergo, there exists the ability to introduce diverse functionality directly into the framework scaffold to allow for a variety of functions which would be cumbersome, if not impossible, to achieve through a top-down method, such as lithographic approaches or chemical-based nanofabrication. Through reticular synthesis, it is possible to molecularly engineer modular, framework materials with highly porous scaffolds that exhibit unique electronic, optical, and magnetic properties while simultaneously integrating desired functionality into the COF skeleton.
Reticular synthesis is different from retrosynthesis of organic compounds, because the structural integrity and rigidity of the building blocks in reticular synthesis remain unaltered throughout the construction process—an important aspect that could help to fully realize the benefits of design in crystalline solid-state frameworks. Similarly, reticular synthesis should be distinguished from supramolecular assembly, because in the former, building blocks are linked by strong bonds throughout the crystal.