Cu(II)-based zeolitic imidazolates (Cu-ZIFs), Cu-ZIF-gis and -rho, formulated as Cu(nIm)<sub>2</sub> (nIm = 2-nitroimidazolate) have highly-flattened tetrahedral coordination geometry. Cu-ZIF-gis has 2.4 Å cylindrical pores that can adsorb H<sub>2</sub> gas, and Cu-ZIF-rho has 19.8 Å cages with a BET surface area of 1320 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>-1</sup>.