Calcium-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks and Their Potential Applications

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) built on calcium metal (Ca-MOFs) represent a unique subclass of MOFs featuring high stability, low toxicity, and relatively low density. Ca-MOFs show considerable potential for molecular separations, electronic, magnetic, and biomedical applications, although they are not investigated as extensively as transition metal-based MOFs. Compared to MOFs made of other groups of metals, Ca-MOFs may be particularly advantageous for certain applications such as adsorption and storage of light molecules because of their gravimetric benefit, and drug delivery due to their high biocompatibility. This review intends to provide an overview on the recent development of Ca-MOFs, including their synthesis, crystal structures, important properties, and related applications. Various synthetic methods and techniques, types of building blocks, structure and porosity features, selected physical properties, and potential uses will be discussed and summarized. Representative examples will be illustrated for each type of important applications with a focus on their structure-property relations.

A 2-D Zn(II) coordination polymer based on 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylate and bis(benzimidazole) ligands: synthesis, crystal structure and fluorescence properties

In this work, a new type of zinc(II) coordination polymer {[Zn(HIDC)(BBM)0.5]·H2O} n (Zn-CP) was synthesized using 4,5-imidazoledicarboxylic acid (H3IDC) and 2,2-(1,4-butanediyl)bis-1,3-benzimidazole (BBM) under hydrothermal conditions. Its structure has been characterized by infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The Zn(II) ion is linked by the HIDC2− ligand to form a zigzag chain by chelating and bridging, and then linked by BBM to form a layered network structure. Adjacent layers are further connected by hydrogen bond interaction to form a 3-D supramolecular framework. The solid-state fluorescence performance of Zn-CP shows that compared with free H3IDC ligand, its fluorescence intensity is significantly enhanced.