Cage Bismuth Metal-Organic Framework Materials Based on a Flexible Triazine-Polycarboxylic Acid: Subgram Synthesis, Application for Sensing, and White Light Tuning

Bismuth-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have always attracted the attention of many researchers. Here, we first report a crystalline Bi-MOF (Bi-TDPAT) based on a flexible triazine-polycarboxylic linker 2,4,6-tris(3,5-dicarboxylphenylamino)-1,3,5-triazine (H₆TDPAT) and bismuth nitrate; its crystallite quality is adequately good and the diffraction data can be collected directly by single crystal X-ray diffraction rather than 3D electron diffraction. The structure of Bi-TDPAT belongs to a novel topology type btt. Notably, the synthesis scale of Bi-TDPAT can be expanded, and sub-gram synthesis can be realized. At the same time, we synthesized a microcrystalline material Bi-TATAB utilizing 2,4,6-tris(4-carboxylphenylamino)-1,3,5-triazine (H₃TATAB). The structures of the two materials were characterized by several microanalysis tools. Considering that Bi-TDPAT is a blue light-emitting material with a broad emission peak, we prepared a white light emitting composite material Eu/Tb@Bi-TDPAT by encapsulating Eu(III)/Tb(III) in Bi-TDPAT. In addition, the fluorescence sensing functions of Bi-TDPAT and Bi-TATAB were explored. The results showed that they could detect and recognize various nitrophenols, and the optimal limit of detection is as low as 0.21 μM, which can be reused even after five cycles. Energy competitive absorption (CA) and photo-induced electron transfer are the main sensing mechanisms. By comparing and analyzing the properties of these two bismuth-based crystalline materials, we believe that this work also provides inspiration for the synthesis and development of bismuth-based MOF in the future.

Multifunctional luminescence sensing and white light adjustment of lanthanide metal-organic frameworks constructed from the flexible cyclotriphosphazene-derived hexacarboxylic acid ligand

Considering that cyclotriphosphazene polycarboxylic acid is a kind of organic ligand with fantastic structures and performances and the unique luminescence characteristics of rare earth ions, a series of porous lanthanide metal-organic frameworks (Ln-MOFs) (CH3)2NH2[Ln3(HCPCP)1.5(CH3COO)]·6DMA (Ln = Ce (1), Sm (2), Eu (3), Tb (4), HCPCP = hexa(4-carboxyphenoxy)cyclotriphosphazene, and DMA = N,N-dimethylacetamide) were synthesized with novel topological network structures. Compound 4 exhibited a sensitive recognition of -NO2, and had a fluorescence quenching phenomenon for seven kinds of nitro aromatic compounds (NACs). In particular, it showed the best fluorescence response to 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), and the KSV values were 2.86 × 105 M-1 and 8.21 × 104 M-1, and the limit of detection (LOD) values were 0.20 μM and 0.71 μM, respectively. At the same time, we successfully doped different concentrations of Eu3+ into compound 4 to obtain a series of doped Ln-MOF materials x%Eu3+@4 (x = 0.5, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 20). With the increase of Eu3+ doping ratios, the characteristic peaks of Tb3+ and Eu3+ changed regularly, and the energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+ ions occurred. By changing the excitation wavelength of the samples with different Eu3+ doping concentrations, a higher quality white light emitting material 7.5%Eu3+@4 (λex = 340 nm) was finally obtained, with a CIE coordinate of (0.3268, 0.3212).

Metal-Organic Frameworks for Liquid Phase Applications

In the last two decades, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted overwhelming attention. With readily tunable structures and functionalities, MOFs offer an unprecedentedly vast degree of design flexibility from enormous number of inorganic and organic building blocks or via postsynthetic modification to produce functional nanoporous materials. A large extent of experimental and computational studies of MOFs have been focused on gas phase applications, particularly the storage of low-carbon footprint energy carriers and the separation of CO2-containing gas mixtures. With progressive success in the synthesis of water- and solvent-resistant MOFs over the past several years, the increasingly active exploration of MOFs has been witnessed for widespread liquid phase applications such as liquid fuel purification, aromatics separation, water treatment, solvent recovery, chemical sensing, chiral separation, drug delivery, biomolecule encapsulation and separation. At this juncture, the recent experimental and computational studies are summarized herein for these multifaceted liquid phase applications to demonstrate the rapid advance in this burgeoning field. The challenges and opportunities moving from laboratory scale towards practical applications are discussed.

Striking dual functionality of a novel Pd@Eu-MOF nanocatalyst in C(sp2)-C(sp2) bond-forming and CO2 fixation reactions

Pd nanoparticles were immobilized on a highly porous, hydrothermally stable Eu-MOF via solution impregnation and H2 reduction to yield a novel Pd@Eu-MOF nanocatalyst. This composite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Unprecedentedly, the Pd@Eu-MOF nanocatalyst could be applied with excellent results in two strikingly different, mechanistically distinct, reactions i.e., Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and cycloaddition of CO2 to a range of epoxides. Under the best reaction conditions, 98-99% yields have been attained in both catalytic processes. Moreover, in either case the heterogeneous catalyst was easily recovered and efficiently reused for more than four cycles, indicating its high stability and reproducibility. PXRD, TEM and XPS measurements on the recycled catalyst confirmed that it maintained its original structure and morphology; no Pd NP agglomeration was observed.