Exceptional H2 sorption characteristics in a Mg(2+)-based metal-organic framework with small pores: insights from experimental and theoretical studies.

Experimental sorption measurements, inelastic neutron scattering (INS), and theoretical studies of H2 sorption were performed in α-[Mg3(O2CH)6], a metal-organic framework (MOF) that consists of a network of Mg(2+) ions coordinated to formate ligands. The experimental H2 uptake at 77 K and 1.0 atm was observed to be 0.96 wt%, which is quite impressive for a Mg(2+)-based MOF that has a BET surface area of only 150 m(2) g(-1). Due to the presence of small pore sizes in the MOF, the isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) value was observed to be reasonably high for a material with no open-metal sites (ca. 7.0 kJ mol(-1)). The INS spectra for H2 in α-[Mg3(O2CH)6] is very unusual for a porous material, as there exist several different peaks that occur below 10 meV. Simulations of H2 sorption in α-[Mg3(O2CH)6] revealed that the H2 molecules sorbed at three principal locations within the small pores of the framework. It was discovered through the simulations and two-dimensional quantum rotation calculations that different groups of peaks correspond to particular sorption sites in the material. However, for H2 sorbed at a specific site, it was observed that differences in the positions and angular orientations led to distinctions in the rotational tunnelling transitions; this led to a total of eight identified sites. An extremely high rotational barrier was calculated for H2 sorbed at the most favorable site in α-[Mg3(O2CH)6] (81.59 meV); this value is in close agreement to that determined using an empirical phenomenological model (75.71 meV). This rotational barrier for H2 exceeds those for various MOFs that contain open-metal sites and is currently the highest yet for a neutral MOF. This study highlights the synergy between experiment and theory to extract useful and important atomic level details on the remarkable sorption mechanism for H2 in a MOF with small pore sizes.

New lanthanide-CB[6] coordination compounds: relationships between the crystal structure and luminescent properties.

The reaction between cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) and lanthanide chlorides (Eu, Sm, Tb and Tm) in acidic aqueous media led to four new structures. The compounds obtained are isostructural with general formula [Ln2(H2O)12(H2O@CB[6])]Cl6(H2O)4 (Ln = Eu(3+) (1), Sm(3+) (2), Tb(3+) (3) and Tm(3+) (4)) and crystallize in the P21/c space group. For the complexes with Eu(3+), Sm(3+) and Tb(3+), the luminescent properties in the solid state and aqueous media were explored and all spectroscopic observations are in excellent agreement with the single crystal structure data. The excitation and emission spectra show the typical f-f transitions characteristic of the trivalent lanthanide ions. The transitions (7)FJ ← (5)D1 (J = 0,1,2) in the europium compound and (7)FJ ← (5)D4 (J = 0,1,2) in the terbium compound, not yet reported in lanthanide-CB[n] compounds, were also observed.

Temperature-induced water release and uptake in organic porous networks.

The behavior of water confined near nonpolar surfaces has important implications for a number of biological phenomena. In this type of confined environment the properties of "hydrophobicity" and "hydrophilicity" are closely related to the structure of the interfacial water, which in turn can depend on temperature in a very subtle way. Although the physical-chemical consequences of this fact have been theoretically addressed to a great extent, the underlying thermodynamic question is still widely discussed. Accordingly we performed thermogravimetric analysis and variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction studies on representative hydrogen bonding organic pores occupied by water. The results indicate that a hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic transition of the inner surface of the pores occurs upon increasing temperature, which may be attributed to a strong influence of the dynamics and thermodynamics of local water molecules on the surface affinity of the pores. The relevance of our findings to the understanding of the phenomenon of water transport in natural pores is discussed.

Hybrid organic-inorganic framework structures: influence of cation size on metal-oxygen-metal connectivity in the alkaline earth thiazolothiazoledicarboxylates.

We report the synthesis of four organic-inorganic frameworks of alkaline earth cations with the organic ligand 2,5-thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazoledicarboxylate (C6N2S2O4(2-), Thz(2-)). Structures with remarkably different connectivities result when Mg(2+), Ca(2+), Sr(2+), and Ba(2+) react with Thz(2-). Mg(Thz)(H2O)4 (I) forms a 1-D coordination polymer in which one carboxylate oxygen on each terminus of the ligand connects individual MgO6 octahedra from their axial positions, while the remaining equatorial sites are coordinated by water molecules. Ca2(Thz)2(H2O)8 (II) forms a 1-D coordination polymer in which dimeric clusters with 7-fold Ca coordination are connected via the ligand in a linear fashion, with a second, uncoordinated Thz(2-) providing charge balance. Sr(Thz)(H2O)3 (III) has 1-D infinite inorganic connectivity built from edge-sharing SrO7N polyhedra having one carboxylate oxygen and one water molecule acting as M-O-M bridges. Ba2(Thz)2(H2O)7 (IV) has 2-D inorganic connectivity based upon face- and edge-sharing BaO9N polyhedra. One carboxylate oxygen and all water molecules act as bridges between each Ba(2+) and its three neighbors. We shall discuss the manner in which the increasing coordination requirements of the cations (MgO6 < CaO7 < SrO7N < BaO9N) lead to an increase in inorganic connectivity through the series.