Design and Construction of a Chiral Cd(II)-MOF from Achiral Precursors: Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Catalytic Activity toward C–C and C–N Bond Forming Reactions

Synthesis of UiO-66-Pyca-CuO by a Simple and Novel Method: MOF-based Metal Thin Film as Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Synthesis of α-Aminonitriles

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), particularly UiO-66-NH2, are employed as catalysts in many industrial catalyst applications. As converting catalysts into thin film significantly increases their catalytic properties, we report a general approach to synthesizing MOF thin films (UiO-66-Pyca-CuO). First, functionalization of UiO-66-NH2 was done with 3-pyridine carboxaldehyde by the postsynthesis method, and then, UiO-66-Pyca was entangled on the surface of copper oxide nanoparticles with a modern strategy (MOF thin film). The morphology and structure of the synthesized UiO-66-Pyca-CuO were determined by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive analysis of X-ray, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, elemental analyses of CHNOS, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We studied the catalytic action of the UiO-66-Pyca-CuO thin film in the synthesis of α-aminonitriles via Strecker reaction. Our studies show that this catalysis can be a suitable catalyst in the synthesis of α-aminonitriles because of having advantages such as using the solvent being environmentally friendly, easy separation of the catalyst (only by picking up the MOF thin film from inside the solution), the reaction at room temperature, high yield, and reusability.

Variation in Catalytic Efficacies of a 2D pH-Stable MOF by Altering Activation Methods

Although it is well-known that the Lewis acidity of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) can effectively enhance their catalytic activity in organic transformations, access to these Lewis-acidic sites remains a key hurdle to widespread applications of Lewis-acidic catalysis by MOFs. Easy accessibility of strong Lewis acidic sites onto 2D MOFs by using proper activation methods can be a cornerstone in attaining desired catalytic performance. Herein, we report a new 2D chemically stable MOF, IITKGP-60, which displayed excellent framework robustness over a wide pH range (2-12). Benefiting from the abundant open metal sites (OMSs) and framework robustness, the catalytic activity of the developed material was explored in one-pot three-component Strecker reaction and Knoevenagel condensation reaction. Moreover, the developed catalyst is superior in catalyzing the reactions involving sterically hindered substrate (1-naphthaldehyde) with high turnover number. A comparative catalytic study was conducted using different activation methods (chloroform and methanol exchanged activated samples), highlighting the significant effect of activation methods on its catalytic performances. The sustainable synthetic pathway under solvent-free conditions for a broad scope of substrates using low catalyst loading and excellent recyclability made the developed pH-stable framework a promising heterogeneous catalyst.

A Multivariate 2D Metal-Organic Framework with Open Metal Sites for Catalytic CO2 Cycloaddition and Cyanosilylation Reactions

This work reports the synthesis of a dual functional 2D framework, {[Zn2(4-tpom)2(oxdz)2]·4H2O}n (1), at room temperature, where a bent dicarboxylate, oxdz2- (4,4'-(1,3,4-oxadiazole-2,5-diyl)dibenzoate), and a neutral flexible N-donor linker, 4-tpom (tetrakis(4-pyridyloxymethylene)methane), are utilized. Its single-crystal X-ray analysis indicated a 2-fold interpenetrated 2D framework having tetracoordinated Zn(II) centers and dangling pyridyl groups. Its further characterization was carried out with elemental microanalysis, FTIR spectroscopy, TG analysis, and powder X-ray diffraction. The tetracoordinated Zn(II) centers as active Lewis acidic sites and the N atoms of 4-tpom as Lewis basic sites in 1 are explored for its functioning as a heterogeneous catalyst in two important reactions, (i) cycloaddition of CO2 with various epoxides and (ii) cyanosilylation reaction under solvent-free conditions. We could successfully show the cycloaddition of styrene oxide with CO2 (99% conversion) under balloon pressure with low catalyst (0.2-0.3 mol %) and cocatalyst (0.5-0.75 mol %) loadings, which is otherwise difficult to achieve. It was observed that all the substrates (aromatic and aliphatic), irrespective of their sizes, showed conversion percentage >99%. In the cyanosilylation reaction, a conversion of 96% was obtained with 1.5 mol % of 1 at room temperature for 12 h. This framework emerged as an excellent recyclable catalyst for both the reactions.

Two Zn(II)/Cd(II) Coordination Polymers as Recyclable Heterogeneous Catalysts for an Efficient Room-Temperature Synthesis of α-Aminonitriles via the Solvent-Free Strecker Reaction

The α-aminonitriles are versatile building blocks in the synthesis of natural or artificial amino acids as well as important intermediates in organic synthesis. For their synthesis, the three-component Strecker reaction involving an aldehyde or a ketone together with amines and trimethylsilyl cyanide is used. In the literature, hydrothermally produced metal-based heterogeneous Lewis acid catalysts have been utilized in various solvents. In this work, we aimed at a greener approach toward such catalysis by (a) making two precatalysts with d¹⁰ metal centers, {[Zn(hipamifba)(H₂O)]·2H₂O}_n (1) and {[Cd(hipamifba)(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O}_n (2) (where H₂hipamifba = 4-(((4-((carboxymethyl) carbamoyl)phenyl)amino)methyl)benzoic acid), via an easy and scalable room-temperature method, and (b) showcasing the use of these coordination polymers (CPs) as very efficient, recyclable, and heterogeneous catalysts for the Strecker reaction to form α-aminonitriles in high yields under solvent-free reaction at ambient conditions. This has also allowed us to demonstrate the importance of open metal sites in such catalysis through an efficiency comparison between activated 1 and 2. In addition, activated 2 exhibited a wide substrate scope including a natural product Girgensohnine, providing an example of a natural product synthesis by a CP catalyst via an organic transformation such as the Strecker reaction.

Topologically Driven Pore/Surface Engineering in a Recyclable Microporous Metal-Organic Vessel Decorated with Hydrogen-Bond Acceptors for Solvent-Free Heterogeneous Catalysis

The use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) comprising custom-designed linkers/ligands as efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalysts is on the rise. However, the topologically driven bifunctional porous MOFs for showcasing a synergistic effect of two distinct activation pathways of substrates (e.g., involving hydrogen bonding and a Lewis acid) in multicomponent organic transformations are very challenging. In particular, the novelty of such studies lies in the proper pore and/or surface engineering in MOFs for bringing the substrates in close proximity to understand the mechanistic aspects at the molecular level. This work represents the topological design, solid-state structural characterization, and catalytic behavior of an oxadiazole tetracarboxylate-based microporous three-dimensional (3D) metal-organic framework (MOF), {[Zn₂(oxdia)(4,4'-bpy)₂]·8.5H₂O}_n (1), where the tetrapodal (4-connected) 5,5'-(1,3,4-oxadiazole-2,5-diyl)diisophthalate (oxdia^4-), the tetrahedral metal vertex (Zn(II)), and a 2-connected pillar linker 4,4'-bipyridine (4,4'-bpy) are unique in their roles for the formation, stability, and function. As a proof of concept, the efficient utilization of both the oxadiazole moiety with an ability to provide H-bond acceptors and the coordinatively unsaturated Zn(II) centers in 1 is demonstrated for the catalytic process of the one-pot multicomponent Biginelli reaction under mild conditions and without a solvent. The key steps of substrate binding with the oxadiazole moiety are ascertained by a fluorescence experiment, demonstrating a decrease or increase in the emission intensity upon interaction with the substrates. Furthermore, the inherent polarizability of the oxadiazole moiety is exploited for CO₂ capture and its size-selective chemical fixation to cyclic carbonates at room temperature and under solvent-free conditions. For both catalytic processes, the chemical stability, structural integrity, heterogeneity, versatility in terms of substrate scope, and mechanistic insights are discussed. Interestingly, the first catalytic process occurs on the surface, while the second reaction occurs inside the pore. This study opens new ways to catalyze different organic transformation reactions by utilizing this docking strategy to bring the multiple components close together by a microporous MOF.

Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks

In the past two decades, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) or porous coordination polymers (PCPs) assembled from metal ions or clusters and organic linkers via metal-ligand coordination bonds have captivated significant scientific interest on account of their high crystallinity, exceptional porosity, and tunable pore size, high modularity, and diverse functionality. The opportunity to achieve functional porous materials by design with promising properties, unattainable for solid-state materials in general, distinguishes MOFs from other classes of materials, in particular, traditional porous materials such as activated carbon, silica, and zeolites, thereby leading to complementary properties. Scientists have conducted intense research in the production of chiral MOF (CMOF) materials for specific applications including but not limited to chiral recognition, separation, and catalysis since the discovery of the first functional CMOF (i.e., d- or l-POST-1). At present, CMOFs have become interdisciplinary between chirality chemistry, coordination chemistry, and material chemistry, which involve in many subjects including chemistry, physics, optics, medicine, pharmacology, biology, crystal engineering, environmental science, etc. In this review, we will systematically summarize the recent progress of CMOFs regarding design strategies, synthetic approaches, and cutting-edge applications. In particular, we will highlight the successful implementation of CMOFs in asymmetric catalysis, enantioselective separation, enantioselective recognition, and sensing. We envision that this review will provide readers a good understanding of CMOF chemistry and, more importantly, facilitate research endeavors for the rational design of multifunctional CMOFs and their industrial implementation.

Three Si-substituted polyoxovanadates as efficient catalysts for Knoevenagel condensation and selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde

Three new Si-substituted polyoxovanadates (POVs), [Cd₂(dien)₂][Cd(dien)][Cd(Hdien)₂][V₁₅Si₆O₄₆(OH)₂(H₂O)]·7H₂O (1), [Co(enMe)₂]₃[Co₂(enMe)₂(H₂O)₂][V₁₆Si₄O₄₄(OH)₂(H₂O)]·6H₂O (2), and [Co(teta)]₄[V₁₆Si₄O₄₂(OH)₄(H₂O)]·10H₂O (3) (dien = diethylenetriamine; enMe = 1,2-diaminopropane; teta = triethylenetetramine) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method and characterized. Structural analysis sheds light on the fact that the {V₁₅Si₆O₄₈}/{V₁₆Si₄O₄₆} clusters of compounds 1-3 were formed by replacing {VO₅} square pyramids in the classical {V₁₈O₄₂} cluster with {Si₂O₇} units. Compound 1 is a 2D bilayer structure formed by the [V₁₅Si₆O₄₆(OH)₂(H₂O)]^10- cluster and two types of bridging Cd complexes containing binuclear groups [Cd₂(dien)₂]⁴⁺. Compound 2 is a 3D framework constructed from the [V₁₆Si₄O₄₄(OH)₂(H₂O)]^10- cluster and two types of Co complex fragments including binuclear [Co₂(enMe)₂(H₂O)₂]⁴⁺. In compound 3, the [V₁₆Si₄O₄₂(OH)₄(H₂O)]^8- cluster is connected with bridging [Co(teta)]²⁺ to expand into a 2D network. Compounds 1 and 3 represent the first 2D assemblies based on a vanadosilicate cluster. 1-3 served as heterogeneous catalysts and exhibited highly efficient catalytic activities for the Knoevenagel condensation under mild ambient conditions with low catalyst loading, featuring the open Lewis base {V₁₅Si₆O₄₈}/{V₁₆Si₄O₄₆} sites and Lewis acid Cd²⁺/Co²⁺ sites. The conversion of benzaldehyde was up to 99.3% in 80 min at room temperature using 1 as a heterogeneous catalyst with only 0.37% catalyst loading. Moreover, compounds 1-3 as catalysts for selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde exhibited excellent catalytic performance, high selectivity and could be readily recycled. Most strikingly, compound 1 showed excellent catalytic performance with 97.6% conversion of styrene and 100% selectivity of benzaldehyde in 15 min. In addition, the catalytic activity of catalyst 1 was well maintained after five cycling reactions.

A covalent modification strategy for di-alkyne tagged metal–organic frameworks to access efficient heterogeneous catalysts toward C–C bond formation

A di-alkyne tagged MOF was proposed to introduce diverse metals, and UiO-66-(alkyne-Co)2 displayed an efficient catalytic performance for the Knoevenagel reaction.

Indium-Organic Framework with soc Topology as a Versatile Catalyst for Highly Efficient One-Pot Strecker Synthesis of α-aminonitriles

An In(III) based metal-organic framework (MOF), In-pbpta, with soc topology was constructed from the trigonal prismatic [In3(μ3-O)(H2O)3(O2C-)6] secondary building unit (SBU) and a custom-designed tetratopic linker H4pbpta (pbpta = 4,4',4″,4‴-(1,4-phenylenbis(pyridine-4,2,6-triyl))-tetrabenzoic acid)). The obtained MOF shows a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 1341 m2/g with a pore volume of 0.64 cm3/g, which is the highest among the scarcely reported In-soc-MOFs. The constructed MOF demonstrates excellent performance as a heterogeneous Lewis acid catalyst for highly efficient conversion in a one-pot multicomponent Strecker reaction for the preparation of α-aminonitriles under solvent-free conditions, which can be easy to separate and recycle without significant loss of activity for up to seven cycles. The computational modeling studies suggest the presence of the three substrates in close vicinity to the In-oxo cluster. The strong interactions of the aldehyde/ketone and the amine with the In-oxo cluster together with the readily available cyanide ion around the In-oxo cluster lead to high catalytic conversion within a short period of time for the MOF catalyst. Our work therefore lays a foundation to develop MOF as a new class of efficient heterogeneous catalyst for one-pot Strecker reaction.

Coordination-induced spontaneous resolution of a TPPE-based MOF and its use as a crystalline sponge in guest determination

In this work, by virtue of a coordination-induced fixation of the propeller-like conformation of the tetraphenylethylene (TPE) backbone, we achieved a spontaneous resolution of conglomerate-forming enantiomers of [Co(TPPE)Cl2]·4DMF (1M and 1P), as unambiguously probed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Benefitting from the robust, accessible, and electron-rich 1D channels, the chiral MOF turned out to be a good 'crystalline sponge' to adsorb and determine six liquid guests, of which two (2-butanol and 2-butylamine) are crystallized in an enantiospecific manner.

A robust heterogeneous Co-MOF catalyst in azide–alkyne cycloaddition and Friedel–Crafts reactions as well as hydrosilylation of alkynes

A robust Co(ii) MOF with high stability was prepared to promote the azide–alkyne cycloaddition reaction, Friedel–Crafts reactions of indoles and hydrosilylation reactions of alkynes.

Revelation of the chiral recognition of alanine and leucine in an l-phenylalanine-based metal–organic framework

An l-phenylalanine-based Zn-MOF, namely [Zn₂(l-Phe)₂(bpe)₂]_n, was designed for experimentally revealing the chiral recognition mechanism to alanine and leucine by means of ¹³C CP MAS NMR spectroscopy, XPS and control experiment.

Three pairs of luminescent coordination polymers based on CoII and CdII clusters for the detection of antibiotics, pesticides and chiral nitro aromatic compounds

Three couples of coordination polymers (CPs), namely, [Co((R/S)-Hcna)₂]_n (1-D/L), [Cd₆((1R,2R/1S,2S)-cpba)₄(phen)₆(H₂O)₃]_n (2-D/L) and [Cd₂((1R,2R/1S,2S)-Hcpba)₂(phen)₂]_n (3-D/L) {(R/S)-H₂cna = (R/S)-6-(1-carboxyethoxy)-2-naphthoic acid, (1R,2R/1S,2S)-H₃cpba = (1R,2R/1S,2S)-2,2′-((5-carboxy-1,3-phenylene)bis(oxy))dipropionic acid, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline} are successfully synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Structural analysis shows that CP 1 has a 3D 3,6-c net structure with a point symbol of (4·6²)₂(4²·6¹⁰·8³). CPs 2 and 3 are obtained under very similar reaction conditions except using different solvent ratios. The presence of the planar chelating ligand phen in CPs 2 and 3 limited the spatial growth of the structure, resulting in the formation of different 1D structures. All CPs crystallized in the chiral space group P2₁, CPs 1–3 are all SHG active. Their luminescence sensing activities for organics such as antibiotics, pesticides and nitro aromatics are also investigated. The results showed that CP 1 can effectively identify trace amounts of nitrofurans (NFs) and CP 3 has obvious recognition ability toward nitrofurans (NFs) and nitroimidazoles (NMs). Both CPs 1 and 3 could selectively detect 2,6-dichloro-4-nitroaniline (DCN). The luminescence of CPs 1 and 3 can also be quenched by (D/L)-4-nitrophenylalanine ((D/L)-NPA) and (1R,2R/1S,2S)-2-amino-1-(4-nitrophenyl)propane-1,3-diol ((1R,2R/1S,2S)-ANPO).

Three pairs of luminescent coordination polymers based on (R/S)-H₂cna and (1R,2R/1S,2S)-H₃cpba for the detection of antibiotics, pesticides and chiral nitro aromatic compounds.

A series of helical coordination polymers based on two racemic bis(pyridylmethylene) propane-1,2-diamine ligands: relationship of conformations, structures and properties

The self-assembly of d¹⁰ metal salts and two racemic bis(pyridyl) diamine ligands generates ten complexes, showing diverse helical and wavelike chains, (4,4) layers, as well as 3D sqc and uog nets.

Two organic–inorganic hybrid polyoxovanadates as reusable catalysts for Knoevenagel condensation

Two novel polyoxovanadates as heterogeneous catalysts have exhibited excellent catalytic properties in the Knoevenagel condensation, especially compound 1's activity is basically maintained after three cycles.