How Reproducible is the Synthesis of Zr-Porphyrin Metal-Organic Frameworks? An Interlaboratory Study.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a rapidly growing class of materials that offer great promise in various applications. However, the synthesis remains challenging: for example, a range of crystal structures can often be accessed from the same building blocks, which complicates the phase selectivity. Likewise, the high sensitivity to slight changes in synthesis conditions may cause reproducibility issues. This is crucial, as it hampers the research and commercialization of affected MOFs. Here, it presents the first-ever interlaboratory study of the synthetic reproducibility of two Zr-porphyrin MOFs, PCN-222 and PCN-224, to investigate the scope of this problem. For PCN-222, only one sample out of ten was phase pure and of the correct symmetry, while for PCN-224, three are phase pure, although none of these show the spatial linker order characteristic of PCN-224. Instead, these samples resemble dPCN-224 (disordered PCN-224), which has recently been reported. The variability in thermal behavior, defect content, and surface area of the synthesised samples are also studied. The results have important ramifications for field of metal-organic frameworks and their crystallization, by highlighting the synthetic challenges associated with a multi-variable synthesis space and flat energy landscapes characteristic of MOFs.

Implementing Mesoporosity in Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks through Clip-Off Chemistry in Heterometallic Iron-Zinc ZIF-8.

Bond breaking has emerged as a new tool to postsynthetically modify the pore structure in metal-organic frameworks since it allows us to obtain pore environments in structures that are inaccessible by other techniques. Here, we extend the concept of clip-off chemistry to archetypical ZIF-8, taking advantage of the different stabilities of the bonds between imidazolate and Zn and Fe metal atoms in heterometallic Fe-Zn-ZIF-8. We demonstrate that Fe centers can be removed selectively without affecting the backbone of the structure that is supported by the Zn atoms. This allows us to create mesopores within the highly stable ZIF-8 structure. The strategy presented, combined with control of the amount of iron centers incorporated into the structure, permits porosity engineering of ZIF materials and opens a new avenue for designing novel hierarchical porous frameworks.

Imparting structural robustness of metal-organic cages based on oxo-dimolybdenum clusters.

A family of robust and stable molybdenum-based metal-organic cages have been obtained based on the [Mo2O2(µ2-O)2]2+ secondary building unit. The resulting cages are decorated with different pyrdine derivatives that impart structural stability, resulting in the structural elucidation of the activated cage with single-crystal diffraction. The chemical robustness of the cage is also demonstrated by the post-synthetic modification of the cage, which allows the exchange of the pyridine derivatives without rupture of the cage.

Multivariate sodalite zeolitic imidazolate frameworks: a direct solvent-free synthesis.

Different mixed-ligand Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) with sodalite topology, i.e. isoreticular to ZIF-8, unachievable by conventional synthetic routes, have been prepared using a solvent-free methodology. In particular, the versatility of this method is demonstrated with three different metal centres (Zn, Co and Fe) and binary combinations of three different ligands (2-methylimidazole, 2-ethylimidazole and 2-methylbenzimidazole). One combination of ligands, 2-ethylimidazole and 2-methylbenzimidazole, results in the formation of SOD frameworks for the three metal centres despite this topology not being obtained for the individual ligands. Theoretical calculations confirm that this topology is the lowest in energy upon ligand mixing.

A fluorinated 2D magnetic coordination polymer.

Herein we show the versatility of coordination chemistry to design and expand a family of 2D materials by incorporating F groups at the surface of the layers. Through the use of a prefuntionalized organic linker with F groups, it is possible to achieve a layered magnetic material based on Fe(II) centers that are chemically stable in open air, contrary to the known 2D inorganic magnetic materials. The high quality of the single crystals and their robustness allow to fabricate 2D molecular materials by micromechanical exfoliation, preserving the crystalline nature of these layers together with the desired functionalization.

Chemical Design and Magnetic Ordering in Thin Layers of 2D Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs).

Through rational chemical design, and thanks to the hybrid nature of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), it is possible to prepare molecule-based 2D magnetic materials stable at ambient conditions. Here, we illustrate the versatility of this approach by changing both the metallic nodes and the ligands in a family of layered MOFs that allows the tuning of their magnetic properties. Specifically, the reaction of benzimidazole-type ligands with different metal centers (MII = Fe, Co, Mn, Zn) in a solvent-free synthesis produces a family of crystalline materials, denoted as MUV-1(M), which order antiferromagnetically with critical temperatures that depend on M. Furthermore, the incorporation of additional substituents in the ligand results in a novel system, denoted as MUV-8, formed by covalently bound magnetic double layers interconnected by van der Waals interactions, a topology that is very rare in the field of 2D materials and unprecedented for 2D magnets. These layered materials are robust enough to be mechanically exfoliated down to a few layers with large lateral dimensions. Finally, the robustness and crystallinity of these layered MOFs allow the fabrication of nanomechanical resonators that can be used to detect─through laser interferometry─the magnetic order in thin layers of these 2D molecule-based antiferromagnets.

Near Isotropic D4d Spin Qubits as Nodes of a Gd(III)-Based Metal-Organic Framework.

Embedding coherent spin motifs in reproducible molecular building blocks is a promising pathway for the realization of quantum technologies. Three-dimensional (3D) MOFs are a versatile platform for the rational design of extended structures employing coordination chemistry. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of a gadolinium(III)-based MOF, [Gd(bipyNO)4](TfO)3·xMeOH (bipyNO = bipyridine,N,N'-dioxide; TfO = triflate; and MeOH = methanol) (quMOF-1), which presents a unique coordination geometry that leads to a tiny magnetic anisotropy (in terms of D, an equivalent zero-field splitting would be achieved by D = 0.006 cm-1) even compared with regular Gd(III) complexes. Pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance experiments on its magnetically diluted samples confirm the preservation of quantum coherence of single Gd(III) qubit units in this 3D extended molecular architecture (T2 = 612 ns and T1 = 66 µs at 3.5 K), which allows for the detection of Rabi oscillations at 40 K.

2D magnetic MOFs with micron-lateral size by liquid exfoliation.

The isolation of high-quality flakes of 2D MOFs in large amounts remains a challenge. In this work, we obtained nanosheets for a whole family of Fe-based magnetic MOFs, MUV-1-X, through a liquid exfoliation procedure. High-quality crystalline layers with lateral sizes of 8 µm and thicknesses of 4 nm, which retain the structural integrity and magnetic properties, are obtained.

Solvent-Free Synthesis of ZIFs: A Route toward the Elusive Fe(II) Analogue of ZIF-8.

Herein we report the synthesis of an elusive metal-organic framework, the iron(II) analogue of ZIF-8 with the formula Fe(2-methylimidazolate)2, here denoted as MUV-3. The preparation of this highly interesting porous material, inaccessible by common synthetic procedures, occurs in a solvent-free reaction upon addition of an easily detachable template molecule, yielding single crystals of MUV-3. This methodology can be extended to other metals and imidazolate derivatives, allowing the preparation of ZIF-8, ZIF-67, and the unprecedented iron(II) ZIFs Fe(2-ethylimidazolate)2 and Fe(2-methylbenzimidazolate)2. The different performance of MUV-3 toward NO sorption, in comparison to ZIF-8, results from the chemisorption of NO molecules, which also causes a gate-opening behavior. Finally, the controlled pyrolysis of MUV-3 results in a N-doped graphitic nanocomposite that exhibits extraordinary performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), with low overpotential at different current densities (316 mV at 10 mA cm-2), low Tafel slope (37 mV per decade), high maximum current density (710 mA cm-2 at 2.0 V vs RHE), and great durability (15 h).

Two Consecutive Magneto-Structural Gas-Solid Transformations in Non-Porous Molecular Materials.

Modification of the magnetic properties in a solid-state material upon external stimulus has attracted much attention in the recent years for their potential applications as switches and sensors. Within the field of coordination polymers, gas sorption studies typically focus on porous solids, with the gas molecules accommodating in the channels. Here we present a 1D non-porous coordination polymer capable of incorporating HCl gas molecules, which not only causes a reordering of its atoms in the solid state but also provokes dramatic changes in the magnetic behavior. Subsequently, a further solid-gas transformation can occur with the extrusion of HCl gas molecules causing a second structural rearrangement, which is also accompanied by modification in the magnetic path between the metal centers. Unequivocal evidence of the two-step magnetostructural transformation is provided by X-ray single-crystal diffraction.

Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Anion Exchange in a Gadolinium MOF: Incorporation of POMs and [AuCl4].

The encapsulation of functional molecules inside porous coordination polymers (also known as metal-organic frameworks, MOFs) has become of great interest in recent years at the field of multifunctional materials. In this article, we present a study of the effects of size and charge in the anion exchange process of a Gd based MOF, involving molecular species like polyoxometalates (POMs), and [AuCl4]-. This post-synthetic modification has been characterized by IR, EDAX, and single crystal diffraction, which have provided unequivocal evidence of the location of the anion molecules in the framework.

Solvent-Free Synthesis of a Pillared Three-Dimensional Coordination Polymer with Magnetic Ordering.

A new magnetic coordination polymer, [Fe(bipy)(im)2] (bipy = 4,4-bipyridine and im = imidazole), has been synthesized in a solvent-free reaction. Structural analysis reveals a pillared 3D coordination polymer composed by neutral layers, formed by iron(II) and imidazolate linkers, interconnected by bipy ligands which serve as pillars. Magnetic measurements show that the material magnetically orders at low temperatures (Tc = 14.5 K) as a weak ferromagnet, likely due to a spin canting.