Juby R. Varghese

The structural diversity and properties of nine new viologen based zwitterionic metal–organic frameworks

The neutral flexible viologen based ligand 1,1′-bis(4-carboxybenzyl)-4,4′-bipyridinium dibromide (H2LBr2) and its self-assembly with first-row transition metals in an aqueous media leads to the formation of nine new zwitterionic (ZW) MOF materials with the following compositions: {[CuBr(L)]·(OH)·7H2O}n (1); {[M4(L)6(OH2)12]·2Br·3(bdc)·33H2O}n with M = Mn (2), Co (3) and Ni (4), {[M(bdc)(L)1.5]·9H2O}n with M = Cd (5) and Zn (6); {[Cu2(3-pzc)2(L)(OH2)]·5H2O}n (7); {[ZnCl2(L)0.5]·0.33H2O}n (8) and [Pd(HL)(Br)2(NO2)2(OH2)2] (9) (bdc = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate, pzc = 3-pyrazole carboxylate). These compounds were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), infrared spectrometry (IR), elemental analyses, thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Interestingly, when the samples are exposed to UV irradiation, photochromic behavior is observed for the ligand only, whereas the ZW MOFs are found to be photochemically inert. The fundamental structural origin for this photo reactivity is discussed in detail, as well as an in-depth CSD analysis of important intra- and intermolecular parameters of L-based MOFs.

The Importance of Polymorphism in Metal–Organic Framework Studies

Polymorphic phase transitions remain frequently undetected in routine metal-organic framework (MOF) studies; however, their discovery is of major importance in interpreting structure-property relationships. We herein report a reversible enantiotropic single-crystal to single-crystal polymorphic phase transition of a new microporous MOF [Eu(BDC)(NO3)(DMF)2]n (H2BDC = 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid; DMF = dimethylformamide). While modification 1LT at 170 K crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with unit cell dimensions of a = 17.673(2) Å, b = 20.023(2) Å, c = 10.555(9) Å, β = 90.129(4)°, modification 1HT at 290 K crystallizes in higher symmetry space group C2/c with unit cell dimensions of a = 17.200(7) Å, b = 10.737(4) Å, c = 10.684(4) Å, β = 90.136(2)°. This temperature-induced phase transition is accompanied by a small change in the solvent-accessible voids from 46.8 in 1LT to 49.8% in 1HT, which triggers a significant change in the adsorption properties as compared to a reported isostructural compound. Detailed investigations on the phase transition were studied with variable-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The herein-presented investigations emphasize the importance of polymorphic phase transitions in routine MOF studies originating from low-temperature SCXRD data and high-temperature physical property characterizations in avoiding the use of a wrong structure in interpreting structure-property relationships.