While traditional piezoelectric materials rely on noncentrosymmetric crystal structures, recent research by Professor Yi-Feng Wang’s team, published in Science Advances, demonstrates that centrosymmetric titanium–oxo cluster crystals (Ti₂₆Pb₁₀) can achieve a notable piezoelectric response and efficient piezo-photocatalytic performance through molecular-scale local symmetry breaking. We provide an in-depth analysis of how this work redefines the origin of piezoelectricity as arising from local symmetry breaking at the molecular scale and outline a future pathway that integrates single-molecule functionality with inherent catalytic strength. This highlight also underscores the unique advantages of well-defined cluster systems over extended framework materials and aims to inspire further exploration of multifunctional cluster materials for next-generation energy conversion and catalytic platforms.

Owing to their tunable structures and strong emission, chiral metal–organic frameworks (CMOFs) incorporating rare-earth ions hold great promise for circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). Herein, enantiomeric rare-earth CMOFs are synthesized via the direct self-assembly of optically pure ligands (1,3-bis((S)- and (R)-1-carboxyethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium chlorides) with Tb³⁺ ions and shown to exhibit CPL with a dissymmetry factor (|g_lum|) of 0.016, which is attributed to efficient chirality transfer and the antenna effect. The introduction of a luminescent guest (MnCl₄²⁻) into the framework channels markedly enhances CPL and increases |g_lum| to 0.071. The results of control experiments and spectral analysis indicate that this enhancement arises from the synergy between host–guest energy transfer and chirality transfer. This work describes a modular strategy for constructing CPL-active rare-earth CMOFs and provides a general design principle for tuning their chiroptical properties through host–guest interactions.

Herein, we present a novel cage-cluster-based framework composed of Ti₄L₆ (L = embonate) tetrahedra and [Pb₄(µ₃-OH)₄]⁴⁺ cubane-like clusters that also exhibits high stability in water, air, and other common solvents. According to the topology study, it exhibits a chiral srs-type network. Integrating titanium cages and lead-oxo clusters into a rigid cage-cluster-based framework significantly enhances its third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) property.