Recent progress in the design, synthesis and applications of chiral metal-organic frameworks

Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks (CMOFs) are unique crystalline and porous class of materials which is composed of organic linkers and metal ions. CMOFs surpass traditional organic and inorganic porous materials because of their tunable shape, size, functional diversity, and selectivity. Specific applications of CMOFs may be exploited by introducing desired functional groups. CMOFs have chiral recognition abilities, making them unique for chiral compound synthesis and separation. The CMOFs can be synthesized through different approaches. Two main approaches have been discussed, i.e., direct and indirect synthesis. Synthetic strategies play an essential role in getting desired properties in MOFs. CMOFs find potential applications in adsorption, asymmetric catalysis, luminescence, degradation, and enantioselective separation. The MOFs' porosity, stability, and reusability make them an attractive material for these applications. The plethora of applications of CMOFs have motivated chemists to synthesize novel MOFs and number of MOFs have been ever-escalating. Herein, the synthetic methods of CMOFs and their various applications have been discussed.

Homochiral metal-organic frameworks for enantioseparation

Obtaining homochiral compounds is of high importance to human health and environmental sustainability. Currently, enantioseparation is one of the most effective approaches to obtain homochiral compounds. Thanks to their controlled synthesis and high efficiency, homochiral metal-organic frameworks (HMOFs) are one of the most widely studied porous materials to enable enantioseparation. In this review, we discuss the chiral pocket model in depth as the key to unlock enantioselective separation mechanisms in HMOFs. In particular, we classify our discussion of these chiral pockets (also regarded as "molecular traps") into: (a) achiral/chiral linker based helical channels as a result of packing modality; and (b) chiral pores inherited from chiral ligands. Driven by a number of mechanisms of enantioseparation, conceptual advances have been recently made in the design of HMOFs for achieving high enantioseparation performances. Herein, these are systematically categorised and discussed. Further we elucidate various applications of HMOFs as regards enantioseparation, systematically classifying them into their use for purification and related analytical utility according to the reported examples. Last but not the least, we discuss the challenges and perspectives concerning the rational design of HMOFs and their corresponding enantioseparations.

Construction of the POMOF@Polypyrrole Composite with Enhanced Ion Diffusion and Capacitive Contribution for High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Polyoxometalate (POM) as an "electronic sponge" can store a great number of electrons; however, shortcomings of poor conductivity and solubility in electrolytes cause a significant decrease in specific capacity and poor rate capability. To address the aforementioned disadvantages, a dual strategy was proposed, including coating the conductive polypyrrole (PPy) and utilizing nitrogenous ligands (1,10-phenanthroline monohydrate = 1,10-phen) for metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to fabricate a [Cu(1,10-phen)(H₂O)₂]₂[Mo₆O₂₀]@PPy (Cu-POMOF@PPy) composite, effectively confining the POM in MOFs to avoid dissolution of POM in the electrolyte and improve electrochemical stability. Simultaneously, the PPy shell could improve the conductivity, contribute extra capacity, and alleviate volume variation of Cu-POMOF during cycling. Therefore, the final Cu-POMOF@PPy composite provides an excellent specific capacity of around 769 mA h g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1 after 160 cycles and good rate performance, associated with great cycling stability (319 mA h g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 after 500 cycles). Moreover, the electrochemical reaction mechanism of Cu-POMOF@PPy was investigated by ex situ XPS measurements, indicating that storage of electrons results from the reduction/oxidation of Mo atoms (Mo⁶⁺ ↔ Mo⁴⁺) and Cu atoms (Cu²⁺ ↔ Cu⁰). As a consequence, this work not only proposes a novel method for preparing POM-based lithium-ion batteries but also expands the variety of anode materials.

Asymmetric metal–organic frameworks with double helices for enantioselective recognition

A pair of homochiral metal–organic frameworks are elaborated by employing flexible enantiopure ligands.

Radii-dependent self-assembly of chiral lanthanide complexes: synthesis, chirality, and single-molecule magnet behavior

A pair of 3-methoxysalicylhydrazone-based homochiral ligands constructed chiral trinuclear and pentanuclear complexes with La^III and Dy^III ions, respectively, which indicates that the radii controlled the self-assembled structures. Chiral transfer during the self-assembly processes was confirmed by crystal structure analysis and CD spectroscopy. Then, magnetic investigations demonstrated that the chiral Dy₅ complexes exhibited typical single-molecule magnet behavior.

Metal-Organic Framework-Based Catalysts with Single Metal Sites

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of distinctive porous crystalline materials constructed by metal ions/clusters and organic linkers. Owing to their structural diversity, functional adjustability, and high surface area, different types of MOF-based single metal sites are well exploited, including coordinately unsaturated metal sites from metal nodes and metallolinkers, as well as active metal species immobilized to MOFs. Furthermore, controllable thermal transformation of MOFs can upgrade them to nanomaterials functionalized with active single-atom catalysts (SACs). These unique features of MOFs and their derivatives enable them to serve as a highly versatile platform for catalysis, which has actually been becoming a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research area. In this review, we overview the recent developments of catalysis at single metal sites in MOF-based materials with emphasis on their structures and applications for thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis. We also compare the results and summarize the major insights gained from the works in this review, providing the challenges and prospects in this emerging field.

Synthesis and photocatalytic activities of two homochiral metal–organic frameworks with cages and hydrogen bonding helices

Two homochiral metal–organic frameworks with M₃L₂ cages exhibit interesting hydrogen bonding helices and excellent photocatalytic activity.

An effective strategy for creating asymmetric MOFs for chirality induction: a chiral Zr-based MOF for enantioselective epoxidation

A simple and rapid procedure was used to prepare chiral NU-1000 as a robust Zr-based MOF without complexity. The functionalization of NU-1000 was performed by utilizing chirall-(+)-tartaric acidviasolvent-assisted linker incorporation, resulting in [C-NU-1000]. A Mo-complex was immobilized onto chiral NU-1000 for enantioselective epoxidation.

MOF-derived porous Fe2O3 with controllable shapes and improved catalytic activities in H2S selective oxidation

Porous Fe₂O₃ architectures with controllable shapes are synthesized by the MOF-template method and show excellent catalytic activity for H₂S selective oxidation.

Flexible and rigid dicarboxylic acids enable the assembly of achiral and chiral 3D Co(ii) metal–organic frameworks

The homochirality of the 3D Co(ii) MOFs may arise from the rotation of the two phenyl rings in the biphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid ligand.

A chiral metal–organic framework with polar channels: unique interweaving six-fold helices and high CO2/CH4 separation

A chiral Cu(ii) metal–organic framework, possesses interesting polar channels based on interweaving heterochiral [4 + 2] helices, exhibiting multiple CO₂ binding sites and highly selective capture for CO₂ over CH₄.