Covalent organic frameworks as exceptional hydrogen storage materials

We report the H2 uptake properties of six covalent organic frameworks (COFs) from first-principles-based grand canonical Monte-Carlo simulations. The predicted H2 adsorption isotherm is in excellent agreement with the only available experimental result (3.3 vs 3.4 wt % at 50 bar and 77 K for COF-5), also reported here, validating the predictions. We predict that COF-105 and COF-108 lead to a reversible excess H2 uptake of 10.0 wt % at 77 K, making them the best known storage materials for molecular hydrogen at 77 K. We predict that the total H2 uptake for COF-108 is 18.9 wt % at 77 K. COF-102 shows the best volumetric performance, storing 40.4 g/L of H2 at 77 K. These results indicate that the COF systems are most promising candidates for practical hydrogen storage.     

A bioinspired synthetic approach for building metal-organic frameworks with accessible metal centers

We demonstrate how a bioinspired synthetic approach can help organic linkers distinguish between different types of metal centers in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Modification of an organic building unit with methyl groups enables the unit to selectively coordinate to one of the two metal sites present in the MOFs. We report four new porphyrin-based, pillared-paddlewheel frameworks: PPF-11-Zn/Zn, -Co/Co, -Mn/Zn, and -Fe/Zn, where the first and second metals indicate the metal center for the porphyrin core and paddlewheel cluster, respectively. These compounds exhibit 3D MOFs in which 2D layers are pillared by a sterically controlled bipyridine, leaving the metal centers inside the porphyrin structurally unconnected.     

Assembly of metal-organic frameworks from large organic and inorganic secondary building units: new examples and simplifying principles for complex structures

The secondary building unit (SBU) has been identified as a useful tool in the analysis of complex metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). We illustrate its applicability to rationalizing MOF crystal structures by analysis of nine new MOFs which have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Tetrahedral SBUs in Zn(ADC)(2).(HTEA)(2) (MOF-31), Cd(ATC).[Cd(H(2)O)(6)](H2O)(5) (MOF-32), and Zn(2)(ATB)(H2O).(H2O)(3)(DMF)(3) (MOF-33) are linked into diamond networks, while those of Ni(2)(ATC)(H(2)O)(4).(H2O)(4) (MOF-34) have the structure of the Al network in SrAl(2). Frameworks constructed from less symmetric tetrahedral SBUs have the Ga network of CaGa(2)O(4) as illustrated by Zn(2)(ATC).(C(2)H(5)OH)(2)(H2O)(2) (MOF-35) structure. Squares and tetrahedral SBUs in Zn(2)(MTB)(H2O)(2).(DMF)(6)(H2O)(5) (MOF-36) are linked into the PtS network, which is the simplest structure type known for the assembly of these shapes. The octahedral SBUs found in Zn(2)(NDC)(3).[(HTEA)(DEF)(ClBz)](2) (MOF-37) form the most common structure for linking octahedral shapes, namely, the boron network in CaB(6). New structure types for linking triangular and trigonal prismatic SBUs are found in Zn(3)O(BTC)(2).(HTEA)(2) (MOF-38) and Zn(3)O(HBTB)(2)(H2O).(DMF)(0.5)(H2O)(3) (MOF-39). The synthesis, crystal structure, and structure analysis using the SBU approach are presented for each MOF.     

Crystal growth of nanoporous metal organic frameworks

Nanoporous metal organic frameworks (MOFs) form one of the newest families of crystalline nanoporous material that is receiving worldwide attention. Successful use of MOFs for application requires not only development of new materials but also a need to control their crystal properties such as size, morphology, and defect concentration. An understanding of the crystal growth processes is necessary in order to aid development of routes to control such properties of the crystallites. In this Perspective article we aim to provide a short overview of the current work and understanding concerning the nucleation and growth processes of nanoporous MOFs and how this work may be expanded upon to further our comprehension of this subject. We also focus heavily on in situ studies that provide real time information on the developing materials and generally provide the most conclusive findings on the processes under investigation.     

Homochiral H-bonded proline based metal organic frameworks

Two L-proline based homochiral frameworks synthesised via diffusion and solvothermal methods display distinct L-proline bonding modes, one N,O chelating and one O,O bridging with amine nitrogen not bound to the metal, with binding mode dependent upon the degree of protonation of the amino acid.     

Crystallinity and stability of covalent organic frameworks

Covalent organic frameworks(COFs) are a class of organic porous polymers with high crystallinity, and their structures can be precisely tailored via topology design. Owing to the characteristics of permanent pores, periodic structures and rich building blocks, COFs have triggered tremendous attention in the past fifteen years and are extensively investigated in various fields.Crystallinity and stability are two crucial features for practical applications. In general, these two features are contradictory for COFs formed via dynamic covalent chemistry(DCC). High thermodynamic reversibility is usually required to attain exceptional crystallinity of COFs, often resulting in limited stability. The first two reported COFs are based on the boroxine and boronate ester linkages, which are unstable in water and even in humid conditions. Therefore, many researchers doubt the stability of COFs for real applications. Actually, in these years, various novel linkages have been developed for the construction of COFs,and numerous newly synthesized COFs are robust towards strong acid/base and even some of them can resist the attack of strong oxidizing and reducing agents. In this review, we focus on the linkage chemistry of the COFs in terms of crystallinity and stability, further extending it to the investigation in the mechanisms of the crystal growth and the overall regulation of the contradiction between stability and crystallinity. The strategies for improving the crystallinity, including selecting building units,introducing non-covalent interactions and slowing nucleation and growth rate, are described in the third section, while the methodologies for increasing the stability from the viewpoints of chemical modification and non-covalent interactions are summarized in the fourth section. Finally, the challenges and perspectives are presented.     

Metal-peptide frameworks (MPFs): "bioinspired" metal organic frameworks

Chiral metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted a growing interest for their potential use in energy technologies, asymmetric catalysis, chiral separation, and on a more basic level, the creation of new topologies in inorganic materials. The current paper is the first report on a peptide-based MOF, a metal peptide framework (MPF), constructed from an oligovaline peptide family developed earlier by our group (Mantion, A.; et al. Macromol. Biosci. 2007, 7, 208). We have used a simple oligopeptide, Z-(L-Val)2-L-Glu(OH)-OH, to grow porous copper and calcium MPFs. The MPFs form thanks to the self-assembling properties of the peptide and specific metal-peptide and metal-ammonia interactions. They are stable up to ca. 250 degrees C and have some internal porosity, which makes them a promising prototype for the further development of MPFs.     

Gas sorption properties of microporous metal organic frameworks

A low-temperature gas sorption study has been carried out on four three-dimensional microporous metal organic framework (MMOF) structures and two two-dimensional layered structures. The pore characteristics are analyzed based on the argon adsorption-desorption isotherms at 87 K. The results from hydrogen sorption experiments conducted at 77 and 87 K show that all MMOFs have a relatively high hydrogen uptake, with adsorbed hydrogen densities falling in the range of liquid hydrogen. Isosteric heats of hydrogen adsorption data calculated based on the Clausius-Clapeyron equation are consistent with these observations, indicating strong sorbent-sorbate interactions.     

Unconventional metal organic frameworks: porous cross-linked phosphonates

The past decade has witnessed an exponential growth of metal organic framework compounds (MOFs). The defining character of these compounds is their porosity. However, in many cases no effort was made to show evidence that a stable porous structure has been achieved and that the pores may be accessed. In the present paper we describe recent work on porous pillared zirconium diphosphonates, and the newer and in many respects different characteristics of tin(iv) phosphonates. The Sn(IV) monophosphonates form spherical globules that exhibit very high surface areas. The surface area arises from their nano-sized particles that pack in a "house of cards" arrangement. Also, it is shown that the 1,4-monophenyldiphosphonic acid forms highly porous (250-400 m2 g(-1)) materials with Sn(IV) when prepared in alcohol-water media. This is not the case with analogous Zr(IV) compounds. The many variations in the syntheses of both the zirconium and tin aryl- and alkyldiphosphonate pillars and their combinations with spacers such as methyl- and monophenylphosphonic acid have created a variety of highly porous materials that are stable to 400 degrees C in air, highly stable in acid media, do not collapse when de-solvated, and can be post and presynthesis altered to include functional groups. Several new directions taken by other researchers are also described. However, it is emphasized in this presentation that the cross-linked compounds form particles that precipitate rapidly into nanoparticles that exhibit only short range order. Therefore, they differ from the more conventional MOFs in that they are not amenable to structure solution by X-ray or neutron diffraction techniques. Rather, they must be understood on the basis of modeling and indirect data from EM, NMR, and additional spectroscopic and textural studies.     

Constructing energetic covalent organic frameworks with high stability and low sensitivity

Developing new functional explosives that display high stability, good energy performance, and low sensitivity are one of the key directions of energetic materials research. In this work, two-dimensional(2D)Schiff-based energetic covalent organic frameworks(COFs) are prepared based on triaminoguanidine salts with different anions as building blocks. Benefiting from the robust covalent bond in 2D extended polygons and strong π-π interactions in the eclipsed interlayers, the synthesized energetic ...     

Adsorption of water on three-dimensional pillared-layer metal organic frameworks

We showed water adsorption isotherms at 303 K on water-resistant three-dimensional (3-D) pillared-layer metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with 1-D semi-rectangular pores, of which size depends on the length of ligand. The shapes of all three adsorption isotherms are type I by IUPAC classification showing strong water-MOFs interaction. The adsorbed amount of water molecules on the hydrophilic site of carboxylic group in 2-D sheets coincided with the crystal water amount. The adsorption on the hydrophilic sites occurs at similar relative pressure even if the used ligand is different.     

Phosphonate monoesters as carboxylate-like linkers for metal organic frameworks

Bidentate phosphonate monoesters are analogues of popular dicarboxylate linkers in MOFs, but with an alkoxy tether close to the coordinating site. Herein, we report 3-D MOF materials based upon phosphonate monoester linkers. Cu(1,4-benzenediphosphonate bis(monoalkyl ester), CuBDPR, with an ethyl tether is nonporous; however, the methyl tether generates an isomorphous framework that is porous and captures CO(2) with a high isosteric heat of adsorption of 45 kJ mol(-1). Computational modeling reveals that the CO(2) uptake is extremely sensitive both to the flexing of the structure and to the orientation of the alkyl tether.     

Site characteristics in metal organic frameworks for gas adsorption

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of nanoporous materials that have many potential advantages over traditional nanoporous materials for several chemical technologies including gas adsorption, catalysis, membrane-based gas separation, sensing, and biomedical devices. Knowledge on the interaction of guest molecules with the MOF surface is required to design and develop these MOF-based processes. In this review, we examine the importance of identification of gas adsorption sites in MOFs using the current state-of-the-art in experiments and computational modeling. This review provides guidelines to design new MOFs with useful surface properties that exhibit desired performances, such as high gas storage capacity, and high gas selectivity.     

二维共价有机框架材料中引入含氮配体用于络合金属催化

共价有机骨架材料(COF)也被称为“有机分子筛”,具有孔道结构开放有序、易于进行化学修饰改性、化学/热稳定性好等优点,是一种新型的有机聚合物多孔材料.近年来,以COF材料为催化剂载体负载金属化合物用于制备多相反应催化剂已经成为材料领域研究的热点,表现出高活性和高选择性.但是到目前为止,仍未找到简单有效地控制骨架中金属负载量和分散性的方法,这已成为该领域一个具有挑战性的课题.
　　本文以2,2’-联吡啶-5,5’-二甲醛作为其中一个结构基元,成功把联吡啶配体引入到二维材料中.除此之外,由于COF是以亚胺键联接构筑形成的,因此框架中同时存在联吡啶和亚胺键两种含氮配体.我们通过红外光谱、结构模拟、元素分析、热失重分析、透射电镜(TEM)、X-射线光电子能谱、电感耦合等离子体色谱等手段详细表征了所制备的二维共价有机框架材料对醋酸钯(Pd(OAc)2)分子的络合负载行为.
　　研究发现,联吡啶和亚胺键均可参与配位Pd(OAc)2,与亚胺键配位的Pd(OAc)2分布于框架的层与层之间,而与联吡啶配位的则部分占据了框架的孔道,导致孔径减小.另外,由于框架中的联吡啶配体含量可通过加入2,2’-联吡啶-5,5’-二甲醛含量的变化实现线性调控,因此也可调节与其配位的Pd(OAc)2含量,其负载量可控制在14.3–18.7 wt%,是目前已报道的二维COF中的最高值;另外, COF材料中调控金属负载量尚未见报道. TEM结果显示,负载在框架中的催化剂分子没有发生团聚,框架的孔道仍处于开放状态,因而反应底物可以自由地出入一维孔道并与络合的催化剂充分接触.另外,由于催化剂在框架内部可以达到分子级别的分散,而且其负载量和负载位置都易于控制,因而对有机反应表现出了优异的催化性能.
　　我们尝试了以不同Pd负载量的COF为多相催化剂催化Heck反应.结果发现, Pd(II)@75%BPy COF(Pd负载量为最高值18.7 wt%)的催化活性最高,对不同底物均表现出优异的催化性能,产率达73–96%,反应速率遵循一级动力学曲线.且催化剂经多次循环利用仍能保持高活性,框架的有序结构也未被破坏,因此该材料有望用于各种类型优异的多相反应催化剂.     

Robust non-interpenetrating coordination frameworks from new shape-persistent building blocks

New shape-persistent ligands derived from triptycene were synthesized, and reaction with copper iodide results in the assembly of non-interpenetrating coordination frameworks with hydrophobic void spaces. These structures are thermally stable and display reversible solvent adsorption, and 1H NMR experiments show that they can be used to remove benzene from water.     

Enhanced hydrolytic stability of self-assembling alkylated two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks

The stability and bulk properties of two-dimensional boronate ester-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) were investigated upon exposure to aqueous environments. Enhanced stability was observed for frameworks with alkylation in the pores of the COF compared to nonalkylated, bare-pore frameworks. COF-18? and COF-5 were analyzed as "bare-pore" COFs, while COF-16? (methyl), COF-14? (ethyl), and COF-11? (propyl) were evaluated as "alkylated-pore" materials. Upon submersion in aqueous media, the porosity of alkylated COFs decreased ～25%, while the nonalkylated COFs were almost completely hydrolyzed, virtually losing all porosity. Similar trends were observed for the degree of crystallinity for these materials, with ～40% decrease for alkylated COFs and 95% decrease for nonalkylated COFs. SEM was used to probe the particle size and morphology for these hydrolyzed materials. Stability tests, using absorbance spectroscopy and (1)H NMR, monitored the release of monomers as the COF degraded. While nonalkylated COFs were stable in organic solvent, hydrolysis was rapid in aqueous environments, more so in basic compared to neutral or acidic aqueous media (minutes to hours, respectively). Notably, alkylation in the pores of COFs slows hydrolysis, exhibiting up to a 50-fold enhancement in stability for COF-11? over COF-18?.     

High H2 uptake in Li-, Na-, K-metalated covalent organic frameworks and metal organic frameworks at 298 K

The Yaghi laboratory has developed porous covalent organic frameworks (COFs), COF102, COF103, and COF202, and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), MOF177, MOF180, MOF200, MOF205, and MOF210, with ultrahigh porosity and outstanding H(2) storage properties at 77 K. Using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations with our recently developed first principles based force field (FF) from accurate quantum mechanics (QM), we calculated the molecular hydrogen (H(2)) uptake at 298 K for these systems, including the uptake for Li-, Na-, and K-metalated systems. We report the total, delivery and excess amount in gravimetric and volumetric units for all these compounds. For the gravimetric delivery amount from 1 to 100 bar, we find that eleven of these compounds reach the 2010 DOE target of 4.5 wt % at 298 K. The best of these compounds are MOF200-Li (6.34) and MOF200-Na (5.94), both reaching the 2015 DOE target of 5.5 wt % at 298 K. Among the undoped systems, we find that MOF200 gives a delivery amount as high as 3.24 wt % while MOF210 gives 2.90 wt % both from 1 to 100 bar and 298 K. However, none of these compounds reach the volumetric 2010 DOE target of 28 g H(2)/L. The best volumetric performance is for COF102-Na (24.9), COF102-Li (23.8), COF103-Na (22.8), and COF103-Li (21.7), all using delivery g H(2)/L units for 1-100 bar. These are the highest volumetric molecular hydrogen uptakes for a porous material under these thermodynamic conditions. Thus, one can obtain outstanding H(2) uptakes with Li, Na, and K doping of simple frameworks constructed from simple, cheap organic linkers. We present suggestions for strategies for synthesis of alkali metal-doped MOFs or COFs.     

A new technique to determine organic and inorganic acid contamination

A new acid indicator pad was developed for the detection of acid breakthrough of gloves and chemical protective clothing. The pad carries a reagent which responds to acid contaminant by producing a color change. The pad was used to detect both organic and inorganic acids permeating through glove materials using the modified ASTM F-739 and direct permeability testing procedures. Breakthrough times for each type of glove were determined, and found to range from 4 min to > 4 h for propionic acid, from 3 min to > 4 h for acrylic acid, and from 26 min to > 4 h for HCl. A quantification was performed for propionic and acrylic acids following solvent desorption and gas chromatography. Both acids exhibited > 99% adsorption [the acid and its reactivity (the acid reacted with an indicator to contribute the color change)] on the pads at a spiking level of 1.8 microL for each acid. Acid recovery during quantification was calculated for each acid, ranging from 52-72% (RSD < or = 4.0%) for both acids over the spiking range 0.2-1.8 microL. The quantitative mass of the acids on the pads at the time of breakthrough detection ranged from 260-282 and 270-296 microg cm(-2) for propionic acid and acrylic acid, respectively. The new colorimetric indicator pad should be useful in detecting and collecting acid permeation samples through gloves and chemical protective clothing in both laboratory and field studies, for quantitative analysis.     

A new approach to synthesis of organic/inorganic nanocomposites

The possibility of preparation of nanocomposite materials with improved physicomechanical properties by polycondensation of spirocyclic silicates and diisocyanates was elucidated. The thermomechanical, spectral, and thermogravimetric properties of the resulting materials were examined.