Cerium oxide was hydrothermally synthesized from an aqueous solution of Ce(NO3)(3) in the presence of either L-glutamic acid, L-aspartic acid, or L-arginine using a continuous flow reactor at 275 degrees C. The products synthesized with L-glutamic acid were cubic nanoassemblies comprising primary CeO2 nanoparticles bound by coordination bonds. This result suggests that inorganic nanoparticles can be used as a component to build functional nanodevices using the idea of coordination programming.