This review summarizes the use of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as a versatile supramolecular platform to develop heterogeneous catalysts for a variety of organic reactions, especially for liquid-phase reactions. Following a background introduction about catalytic relevance to various metal–organic materials, crystal engineering of MOFs, characterization and evaluation methods of MOF catalysis, we categorize catalytic MOFs based on the types of active sites, including coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUMs), metalloligands, functional organic sites (FOS), as well as metal nanoparticles (MNPs) embedded in the cavities. Throughout the review, we emphasize the incidental or deliberate formation of active sites, the stability, heterogeneity and shape/size selectivity for MOF catalysis. Finally, we briefly introduce their relevance into photo- and biomimetic catalysis, and compare MOFs with other typical porous solids such as zeolites and mesoporous silica with regard to their different attributes, and provide our view on future trends and developments in MOF-based catalysis.

Applications of metal–organic frameworks in heterogeneous supramolecular catalysis

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), also known as porous coordination polymers (PCPs), synthesized by assembling metal ions with organic ligands have recently emerged as a new class of crystalline porous materials. The amenability to design as well as fine-tunable and uniform pore structures makes them promising materials for a variety of applications. Controllable integration of MOFs and functional materials is leading to the creation of new multifunctional composites/hybrids, which exhibit new properties that are superior to those of the individual components through the collective behavior of the functional units. This is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research area. This review provides an overview of the significant advances in the development of diverse MOF composites reported till now with special emphases on the synergistic effects and applications of the composites. The most widely used and successful strategies for composite synthesis are also presented.

Metal–organic framework composites

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of porous materials with potential applications in gas storage, separations, catalysis, and chemical sensing. Despite numerous advantages, applications of many MOFs are ultimately limited by their stability under harsh conditions. Herein, the recent advances in the field of stable MOFs, covering the fundamental mechanisms of MOF stability, design, and synthesis of stable MOF architectures, and their latest applications are reviewed. First, key factors that affect MOF stability under certain chemical environments are introduced to guide the design of robust structures. This is followed by a short review of synthetic strategies of stable MOFs including modulated synthesis and postsynthetic modifications. Based on the fundamentals of MOF stability, stable MOFs are classified into two categories: high-valency metal-carboxylate frameworks and low-valency metal-azolate frameworks. Along this line, some representative stable MOFs are introduced, their structures are described, and their properties are briefly discussed. The expanded applications of stable MOFs in Lewis/Bronsted acid catalysis, redox catalysis, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, gas storage, and sensing are highlighted. Overall, this review is expected to guide the design of stable MOFs by providing insights into existing structures, which could lead to the discovery and development of more advanced functional materials.

Stable Metal-Organic Frameworks: Design, Synthesis, and Applications.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials constructed from metal ions or clusters and multidentate organic ligands. Recently, the use of MOFs or MOF composites as catalysts for synergistic catalysis and tandem reactions has attracted increasing attention due to their tunable open metal centres, functional organic linkers, and active guest species in their pores. In this review, the applications of MOFs with multiple active sites in synergistic organic catalysis, photocatalysis and tandem reactions are discussed. These multifunctional MOFs can be categorized by the type of active centre as follows: (i) open metal centres and functional organic linkers in the MOF structure, (ii) active guest sites in the pores and active sites in the MOF structure, and (iii) bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) on MOF supports. The types of synergistic catalysis and tandem reactions promoted by multifunctional MOFs and their proposed mechanisms are presented in detail. Here, catalytic MOFs with a single type of active site and MOFs that only serve as supports to enhance substrate adsorption are not discussed.

Multifunctional metal–organic framework catalysts: synergistic catalysis and tandem reactions

Rapidly increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations threaten human society, the natural environment, and the synergy between the two. In order to ameliorate the CO2 problem, carbon capture and conversion techniques have been proposed. Metal–organic framework (MOF)-based materials, a relatively new class of porous materials with unique structural features, high surface areas, chemical tunability and stability, have been extensively studied with respect to their applicability to such techniques. Recently, it has become apparent that the CO2 capture capabilities of MOF-based materials significantly boost their potential toward CO2 conversion. Furthermore, MOF-based materials’ well-defined structures greatly facilitate the understanding of structure–property relationships and their roles in CO2 capture and conversion. In this review, we provide a comprehensive account of significant progress in the design and synthesis of MOF-based materials, including MOFs, MOF composites and MOF derivatives, and their application to carbon capture and conversion. Special emphases on the relationships between CO2 capture capacities of MOF-based materials and their catalytic CO2 conversion performances are discussed.

Carbon capture and conversion using metal–organic frameworks and MOF-based materials

Photocatalysis is one of the most important chemical methods to mitigate the energy and environmental crisis via converting inexhaustible solar energy into clean chemical potential. The general history of the development of photocatalysis based on porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is simply divided into three branches with a focus placed on the distinct structural role of the photocatalytic center: the inorganic cluster nodes, the organic linkers, and the guests in the pores of MOFs. In each branch, these photocatalytic centers are considered to be monodispersed within the crystal lattices with the other two structure roles regularly distributed to isolate the active centers and sometimes to provide more functions other than photoactivity. This distinctive nature has rendered MOFs as promising candidates for photocatalysis not only because they combine the benefits of heterogeneous catalysis and homogeneous catalysis but also because they facilitate the possibility of merging multifunctional catalyti...

Metal–Organic Frameworks: Versatile Materials for Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Chiral metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with porous and tunable natures have made them feasible for performing a variety of chemical reactions as heterogeneous asymmetric catalysts. By incorporating the oxidation catalyst [BW12O40]5– and the chiral group, l- or d-pyrrolidin-2-ylimidazole (PYI), into one single framework, the two enantiomorphs Ni-PYI1 and Ni-PYI2 were obtained via self-assembly, respectively. The channels of Ni-PYIs were enlarged through a guest exchange reaction to remove the cationic chiral templates and were well modulated with hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties to allow molecules of both H2O2 and olefin ingress and egress. The coexistence of both the chiral directors and the oxidants within a confined space provided a special environment for the formation of reaction intermediates in a stereoselective fashion with high selectivity. The resulting MOF acted as an amphipathic catalyst to prompt the asymmetric dihydroxylation of aryl olefins with excellent stereoselectivity.

Engineering Chiral Polyoxometalate Hybrid Metal–Organic Frameworks for Asymmetric Dihydroxylation of Olefins

The widely studied porous coordination polymers, possessing large pores to adsorb waste carbon dioxide gas and further transform it into valuable chemical products, have been attracting research interest, both industrially and academically. The active silver(I) ions endow the specific alkynophilicity to activate C≡C bonds of alkyne-containing molecules via π activation. Incorporating catalytic Ag metal sites into the porous frameworks represents a promising approach to construct heterogeneous catalysts that cyclize propargylic alcohols with CO2, which is highly desirable for the environmentally benign conversion of carbon dioxide to fine chemicals. We report the preparation of porous coordination polymers (PCPs) with active silver sites and efficient silver–silver bond formation by carefully modifying the coordination geometries of the silver sites. The decentralized silver(I) chains in the porous frameworks enable the efficient conversion of CO2 and derivatives of acetylene to α-alkylidene cyclic carbona...

Alkyne Activation by a Porous Silver Coordination Polymer for Heterogeneous Catalysis of Carbon Dioxide Cycloaddition

A new chiral N-heterocyclic carbene silver(I) cylinder: synthesis, crystal structure and catalytic properties

The combination of carbon dioxide capture and chemical fixation in a one-pot process is attractive for both chemists and governments. The cycloaddition of carbon dioxide with epoxides to produce cyclic carbonates is an atomic economical reaction without any side products. By incorporating acylamide to enhance the binding affinity toward CO2, new rht-type metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with (3, 28) and (3, 24) connected units were constructed. Zn-NTTA with two types of dinuclear paddlewheel building blocks—{Zn2(OOC–)4} and {Zn2(OOC–)3}. The high uptake of CO2 (115.6 cm3·g–1) and selectivity over N2 (30:1) at 273 K indicated that these MOFs are excellent candidates for postcombustion CO2 isolation and capture. The MOFs feature high catalytic activity, rapid dynamics of transformation and excellent stability with turnover number (TON) values up to 110 000 per paddlewheel unit after 5 × 6 rounds of recyclability, demonstrating that they are promising heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 cyclo-addition to value-ad...

New rht-Type Metal–Organic Frameworks Decorated with Acylamide Groups for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Capture and Chemical Fixation from Raw Power Plant Flue Gas

Cheng He

Papers

Metal–Organic Frameworks: Versatile Materials for Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Engineering Chiral Polyoxometalate Hybrid Metal–Organic Frameworks for Asymmetric Dihydroxylation of Olefins

Alkyne Activation by a Porous Silver Coordination Polymer for Heterogeneous Catalysis of Carbon Dioxide Cycloaddition

A new chiral N-heterocyclic carbene silver(I) cylinder: synthesis, crystal structure and catalytic properties

New rht-Type Metal–Organic Frameworks Decorated with Acylamide Groups for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Capture and Chemical Fixation from Raw Power Plant Flue Gas