Construction of photoactive MOF for photocatalytic oxidative organic transformation.

The incorporation of photoresponsive component into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is intriguing because they can confer additional properties such as photomagnetic behavior, light-controlled electrical conductivity, and photocatalysis. Naphthalene diimide (NDI) is organic dye that absorbs visible light and have π-electron-deficient planes and photochemical characteristics. NDIs are ideal for creating photoactive MOF materials due to their ability of undergo reversible single-electron reduction and form stable radical anion. In this work, a photoactive MOF material, Mn 2 (BNDI) 2 (DMF) 3 (1) (H 2 BNDI = N,N' -bis(3-benzoic acid) naphthalenediimide), is fabricated and found to exhibit not only notable photochromism (light yellow to dark brown), but also reactive organic radical under ambient conditions. Complex 1 can act as an efficient electron-transfer photocatalyst for selective oxidation of 2,6-di- tert -butylphenol (2,6-DTBP) into various compounds under diverse reaction conditions, without the need for supplementary co-catalysts. Specifically, 2,6-DTBP is photocatalyzed to form 2,6-di- tert -benzoquinone and its dimer in methanol solution, 2,6-DTBP is converted to trimers and 3, 5-di- tert -butyl-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde in ethylene glycol with medium yield. This work will provide new perspective for the fields of NDI-based MOFs and photocatalysis. A photochromic MOF based on the NDI derivative has been developed for selective photocatalytic oxidative C–C coupling of 2, 6-di- tert -butylphenol to different products by controlling the reaction conditions. [Display omitted] • A photoactive MOF was prepared based on the naphthalene diimide derivative. • Complex 1 exhibit fast-responsive photochromism upon UV–Vis light irradiation. • Complex 1 shows selective photocatalytic oxidative 2, 6-di- tert -butylphenol to different products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]