Functional mixed metal-organic frameworks with metalloligands

Immobilization of functional sites within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is very important for their ability to recognize small molecules and thus for their functional properties. The metalloligand approach has enabled us to rationally immobilize a variety of different functional sites such as open metal sites, catalytic active metal sites, photoactive metal sites, chiral pore environments, and pores of tunable sizes and curvatures into mixed metal-organic frameworks (M'MOFs). In this Minireview, we highlight some important functional M'MOFs with metalloligands for gas storage and separation, enantioselective separation, heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis, sensing, and as photoactive and nanoscale drug delivery and biomedical imaging materials.

A new approach to construct a doubly interpenetrated microporous metal-organic framework of primitive cubic net for highly selective sorption of small hydrocarbon molecules

A new approach has been realized to construct a three-dimensional doubly interpenetrated cubic metal-organic framework Zn(2)(PBA)(2)(BDC)·(DMF)(3)(H(2)O)(4) (UTSA-36, HPBA=4-(4-pyridyl) benzoic acid, H(2)BDC=1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) through the self-assembly of the pyridylcarboxylate linker 4-(4-pyridyl) benzoate and bicarboxylate linker 1,4-benzenedicarxylate with paddle-wheel [Zn(2)(COO)(4)]. The activated UTSA-36a exhibits highly selective gas sorption of C(2)H(6), C(2)H(4) and C(2)H(2) over CH(4) with the Henry law's selectivities of 11 to 25 in the temperature range of 273 to 296 K attributed to the unique 3D intersected pore structure of about 3.1 to 4.8 Å within the framework, indicating that UTSA-36a is a potentially very useful and promising microporous material for such industrially important separation of C(2) hydrocarbons over methane.

BioMOFs: metal-organic frameworks for biological and medical applications

The class of highly porous materials called metal-organic frameworks offer many opportunities for applications across biology and medicine. Their wide range of chemical composition makes toxicologically acceptable formulation possible, and their high level of functionality enables possible applications as imaging agents and as delivery vehicles for therapeutic agents. The challenges in the area encompass not only the development of new solids but also improvements in the formulation and processing of the materials, including tailoring the morphology and surface chemistry of the frameworks to fit the proposed applications.

Urothermal synthesis of crystalline porous materials

Pores from Urea Urea derivatives are shown here to be a highly verstaile solvent system for the synthesis of crystalline solids. In particular, reversible binding of urea derivatives to framework metal sites has been utilized to create a variety of materials integrating both porosity and open-metal sites.