Hydrothermal in situ ligand synthesis and chiral self-assembly with Pr(III)

P-4mo-BDCME (5-(pyridine-4-ylmethoxy)-isophthalic acid dimethyl ester) is undergoing hydrolysis, C–O ether bond cleavage and simultaneous self-assembly with Pr(III) to produce a new chiral compound, [Pr2(HO–BDC)3(H2O)2] (1 HO–BDC = 5-hydroisophthalic acid), which features a three-dimensional (3D) framework with right-handed helices. Moreover, the magnetic behavior of 1 was investigated in the temperature range of 2–300 K.