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The structural environment of the V-IV ions doped in the metal-organic framework (MOF) DUT-5(Al) (((AlOH)-O-III) BPDC) was studied with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). At low V concentrations, two different vanadyl components are observed in the EPR spectrum: a broad-line component, best visible at ambient air conditions, and a narrow-line component, becoming more prominent at lower pressures. Recording the EPR spectra at both X- and Q-band, spin-Hamiltonian parameters were derived for both components. Similarities between the spectrum of the narrow-line component and the spectrum of V-IV centers in the large pore state of a related MOF, MIL-53(Al) (((AlOH)-O-III)BDC), are discussed, including their sensitivity to oxygen. The broad-line component cannot conclusively be identified by comparison with V-IV centers in MIL-53(Al). Increasing the concentration of V-IV in the DUT-5(Al) framework, a third vanadyl component appears in the spectrum, together with a broad feature related to the spectrum of COMOC-2(V) ((V-IV =O)BPDC). Surprisingly, this third component appears to be linked with a narrow pore state of the mixed-metal MOF.

In this work, we report the catalytic performance of a MoO2Cl2 anchored metal-organic framework, Mo@COMOC-4, in the oxidative desulfurization (ODS) process on a continuous fixed-bed reactor. Mo@COMOC-4 was examined as a catalyst in the oxidation of model oils containing dibenzothiophene (DBT), benzothiophene (BT) or 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT). In a 50-h ODS reaction of DBT at 70 °C, with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the oxidant, a constant high DBT conversion of nearly 80% was observed along with a high oxidant utility of over 85%, where DBT was converted rapidly into DBT sulfone. XRD and ICP analysis show that the structure of Mo@COMOC-4 was well preserved, with no significant leaching of Mo species. In addition, Mo@COMOC-4 can also oxidize a hydrogenated diesel oil, and 74% sulfur removal efficiency was achieved, with an extraction recovery of 92.5% after acetonitrile extraction. Spectroscopic characterization confirmed the formation of a molybdenum peroxide complex from MoO2Cl2 under TBHP treatment, a plausible catalytic process was proposed based on the experiment evidence as well as FT-IR and FT-FIR characterization results.

In this article, a set of fluorine functionalized covalent triazine-based frameworks have been designed and synthesized with 2,2′,3,3′,5,5′,6,6′-octafluoro-4,4′-biphenyldicarbonitrile as the monomer under typical ionothermal conditions. A prominent defluorination process during synthesis etches the networks to release CFn, resulting in a significant loss of fluorine and carbon. Notably, the synergistic effects of polar C–F bonds and rich CO2-philic N sites bestow upon the framework an excellent H2 uptake (1.77 wt%, 77 K and 1 bar) as well as a significantly high CO2 adsorption capacity (5.98 mmol g−1, at 273 K and 1 bar), surpassing all related CTF materials measured under identical conditions that have been reported in the literature to date. Additionally, the material also exhibits a high CO2/N2 selectivity of 31 as predicted by the Henry model. The hydrophobicity of the CTF materials has been significantly enhanced owing to the incorporation of hydrophobic fluorine groups, which was further confirmed by ambient water vapor sorption.

Two types of Mo containing metal-organic frameworks, denoted as Mo@COMOC-4 and PMA@MIL-101(Cr), were synthesized respectively by a post-synthetic modification and a ship-in-bottle approach. The catalytic performance of both compounds in the epoxidation of propylene using cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) as oxidant was compared with MoO3@SiO2. A higher conversion (46.2%) and efficiency (87.4%) of CHP was observed for Mo@COMOC-4, whereas the heteropoly acids supported MIL-101 resulted in the decomposition of CHP due to its strong acidic character. Regenerability tests demonstrated that Mo@COMOC-4 could be reused for multiple runs without significant loss in both activity and stability.

International audience; Mixed-metal MOFs are metal–organic frameworks that contain at least 2 different metal ions as nodes of their frameworks. They are prepared relatively easily by either a one-pot synthesis with a synthesis mixture containing the different metals, or by a post-synthetic ion-exchange method by soaking a monometallic MOF in a concentrated solution of a different (but compatible) metal-ion. More difficult is the accurate characterization of these materials. Is the formed product a mixture of monometallic MOFs or indeed a MOF with different metallic nodes? Are the metals randomly distributed or do they form domains? What is the oxidation state of the metals? How do the metals mutually influence each other, and impact the material's performance? Advanced characterization techniques are required e.g. X-ray absorption spectroscopy, magnetic resonance and electron microscopy. Computational tools at multiple scales are also often applied. In almost every case, a judicious choice of several techniques is required to unambiguously characterize the mixed-metal MOF. Although still in their infancy, several applications are emerging for mixed-metal MOFs, that improve on conventional monometallic MOFs. In the field of gas sorption and storage, especially the stability and affinity towards the target gases can be largely improved by introducing a second metal ion. In the case of flexible MOFs, the breathing behavior, and in particular the pressure at which the MOF opens, can be tailored. In heterogeneous catalysis, new cascade and tandem reactions become possible, with particular focus on reactions where the two metals in close proximity truly form a mixed-metal transition state. The bimetallic MOF should have a clear benefit over a mixture of the respective monometallic MOFs, and bimetallic enzymes can be a huge source of inspiration in this field. Another very promising application lies in the fields of luminescence and sensing. By tuning the lanthanide metals in mixed-metal lanthanide MOFs and by using the organic linkers as antennae, novel smart materials can be developed, acting as sensors and as thermochromic thermometers. Of course there are also still open challenges, as also mixed-metal MOFs do not escape the typical drawbacks of MOFs, such as low stability in moisture and possible metal leaching in liquids. The ease of synthesis of mixed-metal MOFs is a large bonus. In this critical review, we discuss in detail the synthesis, characterization, computational work and applications of mixed-metal MOFs.

The metal–organic framework MIL-53(Al) is characterized by a distinct reversible structural transition between a narrow pore (NP) and a large pore (LP) state, resulting in expansion or contraction of this three-dimensional porous framework also called breathing. This transition is studied for vanadium-doped MIL-53(Al), induced by temperature (T) using in situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) in air and in vacuum. The EPR active VIV═O molecular ions are used as local probes to detect the NP to LP transitions. The EPR spectra of VIV═O embedded in the NP and LP MIL-53(Al) states are clearly distinguishable. The temperature-dependent EPR and XRD data can consistently be interpreted in terms of T-ranges in the experiments where one of the states is predominantly present and a narrow T-range in which the two states coexist. In addition the XRD data indicate that the NP state undergoes a transition to a metastable state characterized by different lattice parameters than the NP st...

In this work, the hydrothermal and chemical stability towards acids, bases, air, water, and peroxides of Metal Organic Frameworks, that are commonly considered to be stable, is presented. As a proof of stability both the crystallinity and porosity are measured before and after exposure to the stress test. The major part of the MOFs examined in this study show a good hydrothermal stability except for UiO-67, NH 2 -MIL-101 (Al) and CuBTC. The chemical stabilities towards acids and bases show a similar tendency and an ordering can be proposed as: MIL-101(Cr) > NH 2 -UiO-66 > UiO-66 > UiO-67 > NH 2 -MIL-53 > MIL-53(Al)>ZIF-8 > CuBTC > NH 2 -MIL-101(Al). In the tests with H 2 O 2 most materials behaved poorly, only the UiO-66 and NH 2 -UiO-66 frameworks show a good stability.

In this work, we present the successful synthesis of a series of sulfonic acid functionalized mixed-linker metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) having the DUT-4 topology by using different ratios of 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (H2-NDC) and 4,8-disulfonaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (H2-NDC-2SO3H) in one-pot reactions. The obtained materials were fully characterized and their CO2 adsorption properties at low and high pressures were studied and compared with those of the pristine DUT-4 material. Generally, the CO2 adsorption capacities range from 3.28 and 1.36 mmol g−1 for DUT-4 to 1.54 and 0.78 mmol g−1 for DUT-4-SO3H (50) up to 1 bar at 273 K and 303 K, respectively. Computational calculations corroborated the structural changes of the material in function of the loading of sulfonic acid groups. Furthermore, due to the strong Bronsted acid character, the resulting sulfonic acid based MOF material was evaluated as a catalyst for the ring opening of styrene oxide with methanol as a nucleophile under mild conditions, showing almost full conversion (99%) after 5 hours of reaction. A hot filtration experiment demonstrated that the catalysis occurred heterogeneously and the catalyst could be recovered and reused for multiple runs without significant loss in activity and crystallinity.

X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) were combined to study the structural transformations induced by temperature, pressure and air humidity of the breathing metalorganic framework (MOF) MIL-53(Al), doped with paramagnetic VIV ions, after activation. The correlation between in situ XRD and thermogravimetric analysis measurements showed that upon heating this MOF in air, starting from ambient temperature and pressure, the narrow pore framework first dehydrates and after that makes the transition to a large pore state (lp). The EPR spectra of VIV[double bond, length as m-dash]O molecular ions, replacing AlOH in the structure, also allow to distinguish the as synthesized, hydrated (np-h) and dehydrated narrow pore (np-d), and lp states of MIL-53(Al). A careful analysis of EPR spectra recorded at microwave frequencies between 9.5 and 275 GHz demonstrates that all VIV[double bond, length as m-dash]O in the np-d and lp states are equivalent, whereas in the np-h state (at least two) slightly different VIV[double bond, length as m-dash]O sites exist. Moreover, the lp MIL-53(Al) framework is accessible to oxygen, leading to a notable broadening of the VIV[double bond, length as m-dash]O EPR spectrum at pressures of a few mbar, while such effect is absent for the np-h and np-d states for pressures up to 1 bar.

A new sulfone functionalized vanadium metal-organic framework (MOF), denoted as SO2-COMOC-2, has been synthesized solvothermally. Its structural and gas sorption properties towards CO2 and CH4 have been evaluated and compared to those of the pristine COMOC-2 material. The SO2-COMOC-2 shows a remarkable increase in CO2 capacity at ambient pressure (2.13 mmol g(-1) at 273 K vs. 1.23 mmol g(-1) for the pristine COMOC-2). Additionally, the high pressure CO2 sorption isotherm shows a distinctive two-step sorption behavior with a final capacity of 12.45 mmol g(-1) for SO2-COMOC-2 at 303 K, while for CH4 a typical Type I isotherm was obtained with a capacity of 4.13 mmol g(-1). In situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction measurements have been carried out to characterize the structural flexibility of the materials, showing both the presence of large pore and narrow pore form. Furthermore, synchrotron XANES and a variety of spectroscopic techniques have been utilized to verify the presence of hydroxyl groups and the existence of the mixed vanadium oxidation states in the titled MOF structure.

Doping the well-known metal-organic framework MIL-53(Al) with vanadium(IV) ions leads to significant changes in the breathing behaviour and might have repercussions on the catalytic behaviour as well. To understand the properties of such a doped framework, it is necessary to determine where dopant ions are actually incorporated. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) are applied to reveal the nearest environment of the paramagnetic vanadium(IV) dopant ions. EPR spectra of as-synthesised vanadium-doped MIL-53 are recorded at S-, X-, Q- and W-band microwave frequencies. The EPR spectra suggest that at low dopant concentrations (1.0-2.6 mol%) the vanadium(IV) ions are well dispersed in the matrix. Varying the vanadium dopant concentration within this range or the dopant salt leads to the same dominant EPR component. In the ENDOR spectra, hyperfine (HF) interactions with H-1, Al-27 and V-51 nuclei are observed. The HF parameters extracted from simulations strongly suggest that the vanadium(IV) ions substitute Al in the framework.

In this work, mid-infrared (mid-IR), far-IR, and Raman spectra are presented for the distinct (meta)stable phases of the flexible metal-organic framework MIL-53(Al). Static density functional theory (DFT) simulations are performed, allowing for the identification of all IR-active modes, which is unprecedented in the low-frequency region. A unique vibrational fingerprint is revealed, resulting from aluminum-oxide backbone stretching modes, which can be used to clearly distinguish the IR spectra of the closed- and large-pore phases. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations based on a DFT description of the potential energy surface enable determination of the theoretical Raman spectrum of the closed- and large-pore phases for the first time. An excellent correspondence between theory and experiment is observed. Both the low-frequency IR and Raman spectra show major differences in vibrational modes between the closed- and large-pore phases, indicating changes in lattice dynamics between the two structures. In addition, several collective modes related to the breathing mechanism in MIL-53(Al) are identified. In particular, we rationalize the importance of the trampoline-like motion of the linker for the phase transition.