Chiral tetrahedral iron(II) cages: diastereoselective subcomponent self-assembly, structure interconversion and spin-crossover properties.

A new class of chiral tetrahedral iron(II) cages were prepared from subcomponent self-assembly with high diastereoselectivity. The cages can be interconverted through imine exchange. The chiral cages displayed a spin transition close to room temperature, and the transition temperatures were affected by the substituent and uncoordinated solvents.