The Progress of Metal-Organic Framework for Boosting CO2 Conversion

With the rapid development of modern society, environmental problems, including excessive amounts of CO2 released in the atmosphere, are becoming more and more serious. It is necessary to develop new materials and technologies to reduce pollution. Among them, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown potential for application in the area of catalysis due to their ultra-high specific surface area, structural versatility, and designability as well as ease of modification and post-synthesis. Herein, we summarize recent research advances by use of MOFs for boosting CO2 conversion. Furthermore, challenges and possible research directions related to further exploration are also discussed.

Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and Materials Derived from MOFs as Catalysts for the Development of Green Processes

This review will be centered around the work that has been reported on the development of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) serving as catalysts for the conversion of carbon dioxide into short-chain hydrocarbons and the generation of clean energies starting from biomass. MOFs have mainly been used as support for catalysts or to prepare catalysts derived from MOFs (as sacrifice template), obtaining interesting results in the hydrogenation or oxidation of biomass. They have presented a good performance in the hydrogenation of CO2 into light hydrocarbon fuels. The common patterns to be considered in the performance of the catalysts are the acidity of MOFs, metal nodes, surface area and the dispersion of the active sites, and these parameters will be discussed in this review.

Lanthanide metal–organic frameworks for catalytic oxidation of olefins

Two isostructural metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), termed Ln-MOF-589 (Ln = La, Ce), were developed for the catalytic oxidation of olefins.

CuII- and CoII-Based MOFs: {[La2Cu3(µ-H2O)(ODA)6(H2O)3]∙3H2O}n and {[La2Co3(ODA)6(H2O)6]∙12H2O}n. The Relevance of Physicochemical Properties on the Catalytic Aerobic Oxidation of Cyclohexene

The aerobic oxidation of cyclohexene was done using the heterometallic metal organic frameworks (MOFs) {[La2Cu3(μ-H2O)(ODA)6(H2O)3]⋅3H2O}n (LaCuODA)) (1) and {[La2Co3(ODA)6(H2O)6]∙12H2O}n (LaCoODA) (2) as catalysts, in solvent free conditions (ODA, oxydiacetic acid). After 24 h of reaction, the catalytic system showed that LaCoODA had a better catalytic performance than that of LaCuODA (conversion 85% and 67%). The structures of both catalysts were very similar, showing channels running along the c axis. The physicochemical properties of both MOFs were determined to understand the catalytic performance. The Langmuir surface area of LaCoODA was shown to be greater than that of LaCuODA, while the acid strength and acid sites were greater for LaCuODA. On the other hand, the redox potential of the active sites was related to CoII/CoIII in LaCoODA and CuII/CuI in LaCuODA. Therefore, it is concluded that the Langmuir surface area and the redox potentials were more important than the acid strength and acid sites of the studied MOFs, in terms of the referred catalytic performance. Finally, the reaction conditions were also shown to play an important role in the catalytic performance of the studied systems. Especially, the type of oxidant and the way to supply it to the reaction medium influenced the catalytic results.