Research Progress in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Photoluminescent Materials

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging kind of crystalline porous polymers that present the precise integration of organic building blocks into extensible structures with regular pores and periodic skeletons. The diversity of organic units and covalent linkages makes COFs a rising materials platform for the design of structure and functionality. Herein, recent research progress in developing COFs for photoluminescent materials is summarised. Structural and functional design strategies are highlighted and fundamental problems that need to be solved are identified, in conjunction with potential applications from perspectives of photoluminescent materials.     

Recent advances of hexaazatriphenylene (HAT) derivatives: Their applications in self-assembly and porous organic materials

As a rigid and planar aza-based heteroaromatic scaffold, hexaazatriphenylene (HAT) exhibits excellent electron-deficient property and high π-π stacking tendency, which makes it an ideal building block in the construction of supramolecular architectures and functional materials. In addition, HATs have also been picked out as building blocks for the construction of novel porous organic polymers, one of the most attractive fields of porous materials in the past decade, which includes intrinsic microporosity (PIMs), π-conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs). In this digest paper, the synthetic methods of HAT derivatives have been briefly introduced and some recent advances of HATs in the applications of supramolecular self-assembly and porous organic materials have been highlighted.     

多孔有机骨架材料对顺式二醇化合物富集分离的研究进展

基于在碱性环境下硼酸能与顺式二醇化合物可逆共价结合形成稳定的五元或六元环酯,而在酸性环境下环酯开环释放顺式二醇化合物这一特性,设计合成高效、高选择性、高富集性能的硼亲和材料的研究备受关注。近年来,许多研究工作者合成了各种类型的硼亲和材料,应用于高选择性富集顺式二醇化合物。金属有机骨架(MOFs)和共价有机骨架(COFs)由于具有孔径可调、高孔隙率、高比表面积、骨架结构可调和化学及热稳定性良好等特点,被广泛应用于色谱分离和样品前处理领域。为赋予MOFs和COFs材料对顺式二醇化合物的富集选择性,各种不同结构和不同种类的硼酸修饰的MOFs和COFs被合成出来。该综述主要是对近几年来80余篇源于科学引文索引关于硼酸功能化MOFs和COFs的种类、合成方法及其应用文章的总结,包括“金属配体-片段共组装”“合成后修饰”和“自下而上”的硼酸功能化多孔材料的修饰策略,以及硼酸功能化MOFs和COFs的种类,介绍了其在化学分析和生物分析领域的发展概况和应用前景,客观评价了硼酸功能化MOFs和COFs的区别和优缺点。该文旨在让研究人员能够充分了解近几年硼酸功能化多孔有机骨架材料的研究现状、掌握合成思路和方法,为其应用提供一定的理论指导和技术支撑,为加快硼酸功能化多孔有机骨架材料的商业化脚步贡献绵薄之力。     

Chiral covalent organic frameworks for asymmetric catalysis and chiral separation

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), covalently assembled from the condensation reactions of organic building blocks, are a fascinating class of functional porous materials with two- or three-dimensional crystalline organic structures. Generally, it is preferable to use symmetric and rigid building blocks to construct highly crystalline COFs with desired topology. On the other hand, the incorporation of chiral functional moieties in the building blocks would open up new applications such as asymmetric catalysis and chiral separation. This mini review highlights the principle strategies in the design and synthesis of chiral COFs. The interesting and potential applications of these chiral COFs for asymmetric catalysis and chiral separation are also summarized. This mini review aims to provide an up-to-date advancement of chiral COFs for asymmetric catalysis and chiral separation.     

Recent Advances of Covalent Organic Frameworks for Chiral Separation

Covalent organic frameworks(COFs), orderly assembled from the building blocks via covalent bonds, are a novel type of porous materials with rich functional sites and permanent porosity. At present, most of COFs are achiral networks, nevertheless, chiral COFs(CCOFs) have become a research hotspot in recent years, due to their unique chiral sites and microenvironment. As one of the most important applications of CCOFs, chiral separation has attracted huge attention for the convenient, rapid and efficient feature. In this review, recent progresses of covalent organic frameworks for chiral separation are covered. And we also present the challenges and outlooks of CCOFs in the future for this field.     

An overview on covalent organic frameworks: synthetic reactions and miscellaneous applications

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of porous crystalline materials which are completely constructed from organic building blocks through robust covalent bonds. High surface areas, compositional and structural tunability, low density, and superior stability have rendered COF candidates in a variety of applications, such as adsorption and separation, catalysis, electronics, chemical sensing, optics, and so forth. To better understand the structures and properties of COFs as well as the design principles, it is of great significance to learn about the linkages formed during synthetic reactions that contribute to the high crystallinity and stability of COFs. In this review, we will first discuss various linkages that have been utilized for COF construction up to date, followed by an outline of their miscellaneous applications, providing a comprehensive and detailed overview in this file.     

Synthesis of Robust MOFs@COFs Porous Hybrid Materials via an Aza-Diels–Alder Reaction: Towards High-Performance Supercapacitor Materials

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted enormous attention in recent years. Recently, MOF@COF are emerging as hybrid architectures combining the unique features of the individual components to enable the generation of materials displaying novel physicochemical properties. Herein we report an unprecedented use of aza-Diels–Alder cycloaddition reaction as post-synthetic modification of MOF@COF-LZU1, to generate aza-MOFs@COFs hybrid porous materials with extended π-delocalization. A a proof-of-concept, the obtained aza-MOFs@COFs is used as electrode in supercapacitors displaying specific capacitance of 20.35 μF cm⁻² and high volumetric energy density of 1.16 F cm⁻³. Our approach of post-synthetic modification of MOFs@COFs hybrids implement rational design for the synthesis of functional porous materials and expands the plethora of promising application of MOFs@COFs hybrid porous materials in energy storage applications.     

Covalent Organic Frameworks and Cage Compounds: Design and Applications of Polymeric and Discrete Organic Scaffolds

Porous organic materials are an emerging class of functional nanostructures with unprecedented properties. Dynamic covalent assembly of small organic building blocks under thermodynamic control is utilized for the intriguingly simple formation of complex molecular architectures in one‐pot procedures. In this Review, we aim to analyze the basic design principles that govern the formation of either covalent organic frameworks as crystalline porous polymers or covalent organic cage compounds as shape‐persistent molecular objects. Common synthetic procedures and characterization techniques will be discussed as well as more advanced strategies such as postsynthetic modification or self‐sorting. When appropriate, comparisons are drawn between polymeric frameworks and discrete organic cages in terms of their underlying properties. Furthermore, we highlight the potential of these materials for applications ranging from gas storage to catalysis and organic electronics.     

Covalent organic frameworks

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of crystalline porous polymers that allow the atomically precise integration of organic units to create predesigned skeletons and nanopores. They have recently emerged as a new molecular platform for designing promising organic materials for gas storage, catalysis, and optoelectronic applications. The reversibility of dynamic covalent reactions, diversity of building blocks, and geometry retention are three key factors involved in the reticular design and synthesis of COFs. This tutorial review describes the basic design concepts, the recent synthetic advancements and structural studies, and the frontiers of functional exploration.     

A Photoresponsive Smart Covalent Organic Framework

Ordered π‐columnar structures found in covalent organic frameworks (COFs) render them attractive as smart materials. However, external‐stimuli‐responsive COFs have not been explored. Here we report the design and synthesis of a photoresponsive COF with anthracene units as the photoresponsive π‐building blocks. The COF is switchable upon photoirradiation to yield a concavo‐convex polygon skeleton through the interlayer [4π+4π] cycloaddition of anthracene units stacked in the π‐columns. This cycloaddition reaction is thermally reversible; heating resets the anthracene layers and regenerates the COF. These external‐stimuli‐induced structural transformations are accompanied by profound changes in properties, including gas adsorption, π‐electronic function, and luminescence. The results suggest that COFs are useful for designing smart porous materials with properties that are controllable by external stimuli.     

Tailoring Covalent Organic Frameworks To Capture Water Contaminants

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are attractive materials receiving increasing interest in the literature due to their crystallinity, large surface area, and pore uniformity. Their properties can be tailored towards specific applications by judicious design of COF building blocks, giving access to tailor-made pore sizes and surfaces. In this Concept article, developments in the field of COFs that have allowed these materials to be explored for contaminant adsorption are discussed. Strategies to obtain water-stable materials with highly ordered structures and large surface areas are reviewed. Post-synthetic modification approaches, by which pore surfaces can be tuned to target specific contaminants, are described. Recent advances in COF formulations, crucial for future implementation in adsorption devices, are highlighted. At the end, future challenges which need to be addressed to allow for the deployment of COFs for the capture of water contaminants will be discussed.     

多孔骨架固定分子催化剂催化CO2加氢制备甲酸研究进展

近年来, 大气中CO₂含量急剧增加, 导致了严重的温室效应. 将CO₂作为C1资源转化为燃料或精细化学品引起了越来越多的关注. 开发高效、 稳定、 可回收利用的催化剂成为CO₂资源化利用的关键. 在众多的CO₂加氢催化剂中, 功能性多孔骨架材料固定型分子催化剂展示出优异的性能, 成为研究的热点之一. 功能性骨架材料, 如多孔有机聚合物(POPs)、 共价有机骨架(COFs)和金属有机骨架(MOFs), 具有比表面积大、 热稳定性高和可调性等特点, 在设计合成催化剂方面发挥着重要作用. 本文介绍了POPs/COFs/MOFs多孔骨架材料固定分子催化剂的开发及在催化CO₂合成甲酸领域的最新进展.     

Three-dimensional electron diffraction for porous crystalline materials: structural determination and beyond

Porous crystalline materials such as zeolites, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted great interest due to their well-defined pore structures in molecular dimensions. Knowing the atomic structures of porous materials is crucial for understanding their properties and exploring their applications. Many porous materials are synthesized as polycrystalline powders, which are too small for structure determination by X-ray diffraction. Three-dimensional electron diffraction (3DED) has been developed for studying such materials. In this Minireview, we summarize the recent developments of 3DED methods and demonstrate how 3DED revolutionized structural analysis of zeolites, MOFs, and COFs. Zeolites and MOFs whose structures remained unknown for decades could be solved. New approaches for design and targeted synthesis of novel zeolites could be developed. Moreover, we discuss the advances of structural analysis by 3DED in revealing the unique structural features and properties, such as heteroatom distributions, mixed-metal frameworks, structural flexibility, guest–host interactions, and structure transformation.

Three-dimensional electron diffraction is a powerful tool for accurate structure determination of zeolite, MOF, and COF crystals that are too small for X-ray diffraction. By revealing the structural details, the properties of the materials can be understood, and new materials and applications can be designed.     

离子液体功能化金属/共价-有机框架材料在催化反应中应用

离子液体（ILs）功能化的金属有机框架（MOFs）和共价有机框架（COFs）材料兼具离子液体和MOFs/COFs的优点，是一种极具潜力的复合催化材料。MOFs和COFs材料固定的孔结构及较大的比表面积为负载高分散催化中心提供了天然的物理空间；多孔结构促使催化剂与反应物充分接触；丰富的孔道有利于运输催化反应底物和产物，进而实现催化反应的高效进行。特别是离子液体片段的引入，可以作为催化活性中心的配体（稳定剂）或分散剂，同时能够有效改善MOFs和COFs材料孔道和活性中心周围的微环境。此外，还可以充分利用离子液体片段在适当的反应条件下转化为氮杂环卡宾配体的特点，在MOFs和COFs材料中引入氮杂环卡宾有机金属配合物。因此，我们对近几年来离子液体功能化的MOFs或COFs催化体系在CO2环加成、CO2还原、C-C偶联、羰基化以及其它有机转化反应中的研究应用进行简要综述。并对复合材料在催化领域的发展进行总结和展望。     

Self-assembly of 3p-Block Metal-based Metal-Organic Frameworks from Structural Perspective

Metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) are a class of porous inorganic-organic hybrid materials, which are constructed from diverse inorganic building units and multi-functional organic ligands. Highly ordered pore structures and tailored functionalization have made MOF materials potential for applications in many fields. Among various MOF materials, 3p-block metal(Al, Ga, and In)-based MOFs exhibit higher chemical stability than divalent transition metal-based MOFs due to their higher valence. In this review, Al-MOFs and In-MOFs were mainly discussed from the perspective of categories of inorganic building blocks, coordination types, and numbers of organic ligands. This review will give intuitive guidance to the design and synthesis of novel 3p-block metal-based MOFs with potential applications.     

Recent advances in metal‐organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks for sample preparation and chromatographic analysis

In the field of analytical chemistry, sample preparation and chromatographic separation are two core procedures. The means by which to improve the sensitivity, selectivity and detection limit of a method have become a topic of great interest. Recently, porous organic frameworks, such as metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), have been widely used in this research area because of their special features, and different methods have been developed. This review summarizes the applications of MOFs and COFs in sample preparation and chromatographic stationary phases. The MOF‐ or COF‐based solid‐phase extraction (SPE), solid‐phase microextraction (SPME), gas chromatography (GC), high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrochromatography (CEC) methods are described. The excellent properties of MOFs and COFs have resulted in intense interest in exploring their performance and mechanisms for sample preparation and chromatographic separation.     

Lanthanide Organic Framework Luminescent Thermometers

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are excellent platforms for engineering luminescence properties as their building blocks, metal ions, linkers, and guest ions or molecules, are all potential sources of light emission. Temperature is one of the most important physical properties affecting the dynamics and viability of natural and engineered systems. Because the luminescence of certain lanthanide‐bearing MOFs changes considerably with temperature, in the last few years, these materials have been explored as optical thermometers, especially in temperature sensing based on the intensity ratios of two separate electronic transitions. This review discusses the main concepts and ideas assisting the design of such ratiometric thermometers, and identifies the main challenges presented to this nascent field: develop nanothermometers for bio‐applications and nanomedicine; understand the energy transfer mechanisms determining the thermal sensitivity; achieve effective primary thermometers; realize multifunctional nanothermometers; integrate Ln³⁺‐based thermometers in commercial products.     

Thiophene-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks: Synthesis,Photophysics and Light-Driven Applications

Porous crystalline materials, such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs), have emerged as some of the most important materials over the last two decades due to their excellent physicochemical properties such as their large surface area and permanent, accessible porosity. On the other hand, thiophene derivatives are common versatile scaffolds in organic chemistry. Their outstanding electrical properties have boosted their use in different light-driven applications (photocatalysis, organic thin film transistors, photoelectrodes, organic photovoltaics, etc.), attracting much attention in the research community. Despite the great potential of both systems, porous COF materials based on thiophene monomers are scarce due to the inappropriate angle provided by the latter, which hinders its use as the building block of the former. To circumvent this drawback, researchers have engineered a number of thiophene derivatives that can form part of the COFs structure, while keeping their intrinsic properties. Hence, in the present minireview, we will disclose some of the most relevant thiophene-based COFs, highlighting their basic components (building units), spectroscopic properties and potential light-driven applications.     

Metal–Organic Frameworks and Other Crystalline Materials for Ultrahigh Superprotonic Conductivities of 10−2 S cm−1 or Higher

Proton-conducting materials in the solid state have received immense attention for their role as electrolytes in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Recently, crystalline materials—metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), polyoxometalates (POMs), and porous organic crystals—have become an exciting research topic in the field of proton-conducting materials. For a better electrolyte, a high proton conductivity on the order of 10⁻² S cm⁻¹ or higher is preferred as efficient proton transport between the electrodes is ultimately necessary. With an emphasis on design principles, this Concept will focus on MOFs and other crystalline solid-based proton-conducting platforms that exhibit “ultrahigh superprotonic” conductivities with values in excess of 10⁻² S cm⁻¹. While only a handful of MOFs exhibit such an ultrahigh conductivity, this quality in other systems is even rarer. In addition to interpreting the structural–functional correlation by taking advantage of their crystalline nature, we address the challenges and promising directions for future research.     

Recent advances of covalent organic frameworks in electronic and optical applications

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as an emerging class of porous materials have achieved remarkable progress in recent years. Their high surface area, low mass densities, highly ordered periodic structures, and ease of functionalization make COFs exhibit superior potential in gas storage and separation, optoelectronic device and catalysis. This mini review gives a brief introduction of COFs and highlights their applications in electronic and optical fields.