Tailoring porosity and rotational dynamics in a series of octacarboxylate metal-organic frameworks

Abstract

<p id="d6918367e341">A family of stable porous materials incorporating organic linkers and Cu(II) cations is reported. Their pores can be altered systematically by elongation of the ligands allowing a strategy of selective pore extension along one dimension. These materials show remarkable gas adsorption properties with high working capacities for CH ₄ (0.24 g g ⁻¹, 163 cm ³ cm ⁻³ at 298 K, 5–65 bar) for the most porous system. The mechanism of rotation of the organic groups in the solid state has been analyzed by NMR spectroscopy and rotational rates and transition temperatures analyzed. Significantly, we show that framework dynamics can be controlled by ligand design only, and this paves the way to understanding the role of molecular rotors within these materials. </p><p class="first" id="d6918367e356">Modulation and precise control of porosity of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is of critical importance to their materials function. Here we report modulation of porosity for a series of isoreticular octacarboxylate MOFs, denoted MFM-180 to MFM-185, via a strategy of selective elongation of metal-organic cages. Owing to the high ligand connectivity, these MOFs do not show interpenetration, and are robust structures that have permanent porosity. Interestingly, activated MFM-185a shows a high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 4,734 m ² g ⁻¹ for an octacarboxylate MOF. These MOFs show remarkable CH ₄ and CO ₂ adsorption properties, notably with simultaneously high gravimetric and volumetric deliverable CH ₄ capacities of 0.24 g g ⁻¹ and 163 vol/vol (298 K, 5–65 bar) recorded for MFM-185a due to selective elongation of tubular cages. The dynamics of molecular rotors in deuterated MFM-180a-d ₁₆ and MFM-181a-d ₁₆ were investigated by variable-temperature ²H solid-state NMR spectroscopy to reveal the reorientation mechanisms within these materials. Analysis of the flipping modes of the mobile phenyl groups, their rotational rates, and transition temperatures paves the way to controlling and understanding the role of molecular rotors through design of organic linkers within porous MOF materials. </p>