Structural Transformations in the Thermal Dehydration of [Cu2(bpa)(btec)(H2O)4]n Coordination Polymer

Enhanced Catalytic Activity of a Copper(II) Metal-Organic Framework Constructed via Semireversible Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Dehydration

Herein, we present a copper(II) metal-organic framework, [Cu2(btec)(OH2)4]·2H2O (1) [(btec)4- = 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylate], that undergoes single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations into two anhydrous phases 2' and 2″ with the chemical formula [Cu2(btec)], triggered by two-step dehydration at 403 and 433 K, respectively. After immersion in water for 3 days at room temperature, 2' transformed into [Cu2(btec)(OH2)] (3), while both 2' and 2″ took 1 week to revert to 1. Dynamic vapor sorption studies validated water-induced reversible structural transformations at 70% relative humidity (RH). According to single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD), the local coordination geometry of the Cu2+ ion in 2' changed from a saturated octahedron to a coordinatively unsaturated square-based pyramid in 3, manifested by changes in color and dimensionality. From a topological point of view, all of the scaffolds show a binodal (3,6)-connected kgd topology with the point symbol {43}2{46}. In addition, the materials were thoroughly characterized using routine spectroscopic data and various analytical techniques. The catalytic activity of the microporous materials in the liquid-phase oxidation of styrene in acetonitrile, using 30% (wt) H2O2 as the oxidant, was investigated. The excellent performance of the monohydrous phase 3 was shown to be superior to the pristine framework and the anhydrous counterparts, as evidenced by a good turnover number (TON) and turnover frequency (TOF) = 82.6 and 21.0 h-1, respectively. Within 4 h, the substrates were catalytically oxidized to the desired products with up to 67% conversion and 100% benzaldehyde selectivity. It is worth noting that the accessible active metal sites and higher surface area enhanced the catalytic properties of 3. Furthermore, the maintenance of catalytic efficiency over five cycles and reusability are illustrated and discussed in terms of the structural differences of the microporous frameworks. Thus, a preliminary reaction mechanism for the selective oxidation of styrene is proposed. This study not only provides a fascinating example of MOF chromism achieved by thermal activation and rehydration but also sheds some light on the relationship between pore-surface- or metal-engineered sites in MOFs and their heterogeneous catalytic performances.