Nele Reimer

Effective Mercury Sorption by Thiol-Laced Metal–Organic Frameworks: in Strong Acid and the Vapor Phase

Free-standing, accessible thiol (-SH) functions have been installed in robust, porous coordination networks to provide wide-ranging reactivities and properties in the solid state. The frameworks were assembled by reacting ZrCl4 or AlCl3 with 2,5-dimercapto-1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (H2DMBD), which features the hard carboxyl and soft thiol functions. The resultant Zr-DMBD and Al-DMBD frameworks exhibit the UiO-66 and CAU-1 topologies, respectively, with the carboxyl bonded to the hard Zr(IV) or Al(III) center and the thiol groups decorating the pores. The thiol-laced Zr-DMBD crystals lower the Hg(II) concentration in water below 0.01 ppm and effectively take up Hg from the vapor phase. The Zr-DMBD solid also features a nearly white photoluminescence that is distinctly quenched after Hg uptake. The carboxyl/thiol combination thus illustrates the wider applicability of the hard-and-soft strategy for functional frameworks.

Thermal post-synthetic modification of Al-MIL-53–COOH: systematic investigation of the decarboxylation and condensation reaction

Aluminium trimellitate [Al(OH)(BDC–COOH)]·0.9H2O (1), the Al-MIL-53–COOH derivative, was discovered under solvothermal conditions using a high-throughput set-up suitable for microwave (MW)-assisted heating. The compound shows high structural flexibility. The large-pore (lp) form of the framework is obtained under large excess of H2O or after solvothermal treatment with N,N-dimethylformamide upon which [Al(OH)(BDC–COOH)]·0.7DMF (2) is obtained. Exposure of the water rich lp form of 1 to ambient conditions leads to the transformation to the narrow-pore (np) form. Thermal activation of both compounds results in the formation of the empty lp form and the activation of 1 was studied in detail by in situ IR-spectroscopy. Depending on the activation temperature and time two post-synthetic modification (PSM) processes are observed: the partial decarboxylation and the formation of acid anhydride groups. Thus at high temperatures and long activation times [Al(OH)(BDC–OCOCO–BDC)x/2(BDC)y] (x + y = 1) is formed. Upon cooling in air the anhydride functionality still remains intact, but the np form is obtained in air due to the adsorption of H2O molecules. Sorption measurements of 1 confirm a preference for polar gases like H2O and CO2 in comparison to N2, H2, and CH4. The N2 capacity depends strongly on the degree of decarboxylation.

Enhancing the Water Stability of Al‐MIL‐101‐NH2 via Postsynthetic Modification

The resistance of metal-organic frameworks towards water is a very critical issue concerning their practical use. Recently, it was shown for microporous MOFs that the water stability could be increased by introducing hydrophobic pendant groups. Here, we demonstrate a remarkable stabilisation of the mesoporous MOF Al-MIL-101-NH2 by postsynthetic modification with phenyl isocyanate. In this process 86 % of the amino groups were converted into phenylurea units. As a consequence, the long-term stability of Al-MIL-101-URPh in liquid water could be extended beyond a week. In water saturated atmospheres Al-MIL-101-URPh decomposed at least 12-times slower than the unfunctionalised analogue. To study the underlying processes both materials were characterised by Ar, N2 and H2 O sorption measurements, powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric and chemical analysis as well as solid-state NMR and IR spectroscopy. Postsynthetic modification decreased the BET equivalent surface area from 3363 to 1555 m(2)  g(-1) for Al-MIL-101-URPh and reduced the mean diameters of the mesopores by 0.6 nm without degrading the structure significantly and reducing thermal stability. In spite of similar water uptake capacities, the relative humidity-dependent uptake of Al-MIL-101-URPh is slowed and occurs at higher relative humidity values. In combination with (1) H-(27) Al D-HMQC NMR spectroscopy experiments this favours a shielding mechanism of the Al clusters by the pendant phenyl groups and rules out pore blocking.

Three Series of Sulfo‐Functionalized Mixed‐Linker CAU‐10 Analogues: Sorption Properties, Proton Conductivity, and Catalytic Activity

Ten mixed-linker metal-organic frameworks [Al(OH)(m-BDC-X)(1-y)(m-BDC-SO3H)y] (H2BDC = 1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid; X = H, NO2, OH) exhibiting the CAU-10-type structure were synthesized. The compounds can be grouped into three series according to the combination of ligands employed. The three series of compounds were obtained by employing different ratios of m-H2 BDC-X and m-H2BDC-SO3Li. The resulting compounds, which are denoted CAU-10-H/Sx, -N/Sx and -O/Sx, show exceptionally high thermal stability for sulfonated materials of up to 350 °C. Detailed characterization with special focus on polarity and acidity was performed, and the impact of the additional SO3H groups is clearly demonstrated by changes in the sorption affinities/capacities towards several gases and water vapor. In addition, selected samples were evaluated for proton conductivity and as catalysts for the gas-phase dehydration of ethanol to ethylene. While only very low proton conductivities were observed, a pronounced increase in catalytic activity was achieved. Although reactions were performed at temperatures of 250 and 300 °C for more than 40 h, no desulfonation and no loss of crystallinity were observed, and stable ethanol conversion resulted. This demonstrates the high stability of this material.