Metal Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Application

Novel Application of Metal-Organic Frameworks as Efficient Sorbents for Solid-Phase Extraction of Chemical Warfare Agents and Related Compounds in Water Samples

In this work, we test metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as sorbents in the solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique to determine chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and their related compounds in water samples. During this study, we used 13 target compounds to test the selectivity of MOFs thoroughly. Three MOFs were used: MIL-100(Fe), ZIF-8(Zn), and UiO-66(Zr). The obtained materials were characterized using FT-IR/ATR, SEM, and XRD. CWA's and related compounds were analyzed using gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The effect of the type of elution solvent and the amount of sorbent (MOFs) in the column on the efficiency of the conducted extraction were verified. The LOD ranged from 0.04 to 7.54 ng mL-1, and the linearity range for the analytes tested extended from 0.11/22.62 (depending on the compound) to 1000 ng mL-1. It was found that MOFs showed the most excellent selectivity to compounds having aromatic rings in their structure or a "spread" spatial structure. The best recoveries were obtained for DPAA, CAP, and malathion. Environmental water samples collected from the Baltic Sea were analyzed using an optimized procedure to verify the developed method's usefulness.

Synthesis and Application of a pH-Responsive Functional Metal-Organic Framework: In Vitro Investigation for Delivery of Oridonin in Cancer Therapy

Oridonin (Ori) is a naturally existing diterpenoid substance that mainly exists in the Chinese medicinal plant Rabdosia rubescens. It was previously found to possess intriguing biological properties; however, the quick clearance from plasma and limited solubility in water restricts its use as a drug. Several metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), having big surfaces and large pores, have recently been considered promising drug transporters. The zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), a form of MOF consisting of 2-methylimidazole with zinc ions, is structurally stable under physiologically neutral conditions, while it can degrade at low pH values such as in tumor cells. Herein, a nanosized drug delivery system, Ori@ZIF-8, was successfully designed for encapsulating and transporting oridonin to the tumor site. The drug loading of the prepared Ori@ZIF-8 was 26.78%, and the particles' mean size was 240.5 nm. In vitro, the release of Ori@ZIF-8 exhibited acid sensitivity, with a slow release under neutral conditions and rapid release of the drug under weakly acidic conditions. According to the in vitro anti-tumor experiments, Ori@ZIF-8 produced higher cytotoxicity than free Ori and induced apoptosis in A549 cancer cells. In conclusion, Ori@ZIF-8 could be a potential pH-responsive carrier to accurately release more oridonins at the tumor site.

Recent advances in fluorescence-based chemosensing of organoarsenic feed additives using luminescence MOFs, COFs, HOFs, and QDs

Organoarsenics are low-toxicity compounds that are used widely as feed additives to promote livestock growth, enhance meat pigmentation, and fight against intestinal parasites. The organoarsenic compounds are commonly found in poultry waste and the degradation of organoarsenic produces the toxic carcinogen inorganic arsenic such as As(V) and As(III), which results in severe arsenic pollution of soil and groundwater. As a consequence, there exists a high necessity to develop suitable sensing methods for the trace detection and quantification of organoarsenic feed additives in wastewater. Among various detection methods, in particular, fluorescence-based sensing has become a popular and efficient method used extensively for sensing water contaminants and environmental contaminants. In the recent past, a wide variety of fluorescence chemosensors have been designed and employed for the efficient sensing and quantification of the concentration of organoarsenic feed additives in different environmental samples. This review article systematically highlights various fluorescence chemosensors reported to date for fluorescence-based sensing of organoarsenic feed additives. The fluorescence sensors discussed in this review are classified and grouped according to their structures and functions, and in each section, we provide a detailed report on the structure, photophysics, and fluorescence sensing properties of different chemosensors. Lastly, the future perspectives on the design and development of practically useful sensor systems for selective and discriminative sensing of organoarsenic compounds have been stated.

Two Structurally Similar Co5 Cluster-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks Containing Open Metal Sites for Efficient C2H2/CO2 Separation

To reasonably design and synthesize metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with high stability and excellent adsorption/separation performance, the pore configuration and functional sites are very important. Here, we report two structurally similar cluster-based MOFs using a pyridine-modified low-symmetry ligand [H₄L = 2,6-bis(2',5'-dicarboxyphenyl)pyridine], [(NH₂Me₂)₂][Co₅(L)₂(OCH₃)₂(μ₃-OH)₂·2DMF]·2DMF·2H₂O (1) and [Co₅(L)₂(μ₃-OH)₂(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O·4DMF (2). The structures of 1 and 2 are built from Co₅ clusters, which have one-dimensional open channels, but their microporous environments are different due to the different ways in which ligands bind to the metals. Both MOFs have extremely high chemical stabilities over a wide pH range (2-12). The two MOFs have similar adsorption capacities of C₂H₂ (144.0 cm³ g^-1 for 1 and 141.3 cm³ g^-1 for 2), but 1 has a higher C₂H₂/CO₂ selectivity of 3.5 under ambient conditions. The difference in gas adsorption and separation between the two MOFs has been compared by a breakthrough experiment and theoretical calculation, and the influence of the microporous environment on the gas adsorption and separation performance of MOFs has been further studied.

Applications of Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy against Bacterial Biofilms

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and allied photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy have shown remarkable activity against bacterial pathogens in both planktonic and biofilm forms. There has been little or no resistance development against antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. Furthermore, recent developments in therapies that involve antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in combination with photothermal hyperthermia therapy, magnetic hyperthermia therapy, antibiotic chemotherapy and cold atmospheric pressure plasma therapy have shown additive and synergistic enhancement of its efficacy. This paper reviews applications of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and non-invasive combination therapies often used with it, including sonodynamic therapy and nanozyme enhanced photodynamic therapy. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm mechanisms are discussed. This review proposes that these technologies have a great potential to overcome the bacterial resistance associated with bacterial biofilm formation.

Binding Materials for MOF Monolith Shaping Processes: A Review towards Real Life Application

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) could be utilized for a wide range of applications such as sorption, catalysis, chromatography, energy storage, sensors, drug delivery, and nonlinear optics. However, to date, there are very few examples of MOFs exploited on a commercial scale. Nevertheless, progress in MOF-related research is currently paving the way to new industrial opportunities, fostering applications and processes interconnecting fundamental chemistry with engineering and relevant sectors. Yet, the fabrication of porous MOF materials within resistant structures is a key challenge impeding their wide commercial use for processes such as adsorptive separation. In fact, the integration of nano-scale MOF crystallic structures into bulk components that can maintain the desired characteristics, i.e., size, shape, and mechanical stability, is a prerequisite for their wide practical use in many applications. At the same time, it requires sophisticated shaping techniques that can structure nano/micro-crystalline fine powders of MOFs into diverse types of macroscopic bodies such as monoliths. Under this framework, this review aims to bridge the gap between research advances and industrial necessities for fostering MOF applications into real life. Therefore, it critically explores recent advances in the shaping and production of MOF macro structures with regard to the binding materials that have received little attention to date, but have the potential to give new perspectives in the industrial applicability of MOFs. Moreover, it proposes future paths that can be adopted from both academy and industry and can further boost MOF exploitation.

A Type of MOF-Derived Porous Carbon with Low Cost as an Efficient Catalyst for Phenol Hydroxylation

Using MOF-5 as a template, the porous carbon (MDPC-600) possessing high specific surface area was obtained after carbonization and acid washing. After MDPC-600 was loaded with Cu ions, the catalyst Cu/MDPC-600 was acquired by heat treatment under nitrogen atmosphere. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), N2 physical adsorption (BET), field emission electron microscope (SEM), energy spectrum, and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results show that the Cu/MDPC-600 catalyst prepared by using MOF-5 as the template has a very high specific surface area, and Cu is uniformly supported on the carrier. The catalytic hydrogen peroxide oxidation reaction of phenol hydroxylation was investigated and exhibits better catalytic activity and stability in the phenol hydroxylation reaction. The catalytic effect was best when the reaction temperature was 80°C, the reaction time was 2 h, and the amount of catalyst was 0.05 g. The conversion rate of phenol was 47.6%; the yield and selectivity of catechol were 37.8% and 79.4%, respectively. The activity of the catalyst changes little after three cycles of use.

Cinnamal Sensing and Luminescence Color Tuning in a Series of Rare-Earth Metal-Organic Frameworks with Trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate

Three isostructural metal-organic frameworks ([Ln2(phen)2(NO3)2(chdc)2]·2DMF (Ln3+ = Y3+ for 1, Eu3+ for 2 or Tb3+ for 3; phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; H2chdc = trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid) were synthesized and characterized. The compounds are based on a binuclear block {M2(phen)2(NO3)2(OOCR)4} assembled into a two-dime nsional square-grid network containing tetragonal channels with 26% total solvent-accessible volume. Yttrium (1)-, europium (2)- and terbium (3)-based structures emit in the blue, red and green regions, respectively, representing the basic colors of the standard RGB matrix. A doping of Eu3+ and/or Tb3+ centers into the Y3+-based phase led to mixed-metal compositions with tunable emission color and high quantum yields (QY) up to 84%. The bright luminescence of a suspension of microcrystalline 3 in DMF (QY = 78%) is effectively quenched by diluted cinnamaldehyde (cinnamal) solutions at millimolar concentrations, suggesting a convenient and analytically viable sensing method for this important chemical.

Bringing a New Flexible Mercaptoacetic Acid Linker to the Design of Coordination Polymers

Two new 3D coordination polymers (CPs), formulated as [Zn(p-XBT)]_n (1H) and [Cd(p-XBT)]_n (2H), were assembled from a virtually unexplored p-xylylene-bis(2-mercaptoacetic) acid linker (p-XBTA) and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermal analysis methods (TG-DSC, TG-FTIR), single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and topological analysis. Two different synthetic strategies were explored, namely the precipitation (P) and hydrothermal (H) methods, resulting in a Zn(II) derivative [Zn(p-XBT)·H₂O]_n (1P) and its dehydrated analogue [Zn(p-XBT)]_n (1H), respectively. In the Cd(II)-containing system, the same [Cd(p-XBT)]_n (2P = 2H) products were generated by both synthetic methods. Upon dehydration, 1P undergoes a “crystal-to-crystal” phase transition in the 170−185 °C temperature range, producing an anhydrous polycrystalline sample (1H). Both CPs 1H and 2H are isostructural and feature polymeric 3D metal-organic nets of the cds topological type, which are driven by the 4-linked metal and p-XBT²⁻ nodes. These compounds represent unique examples of coordination polymers derived from p-xylylene-bis(2-mercaptoacetic) acid, thus opening up the use of this flexible S,O-heterodonor building block in the design of polymeric metal-organic architectures.