Defect engineering enables synergistic action of hierarchical porosity and multifunctionality for efficient catalysis of diverse reactions

Abstract

The limitations of embedding suitable functional groups as Brønsted and Lewis pairs in metal–organic materials hinder their application especially to promote catalysis reactions. Due to the generation abundance of unsaturated inorganic nodes upon partial ligand decarboxylation, Quasi-MOFs (Q-MOFs) are considered as a potential candidate for the installation of amino acids. Here for the first time, we demonstrated that Q-HKUST-1 possessing a Lewis acid site could be transformed into an excellent multifunctional chiral MOF (Q-HKUST-Cys), via post-synthetic modification by L-Cysteine. Applying this approach, we can fabricate a pore environment spatially decorated with multiple functional groups. The post-modified MOF has been characterized by a variety of techniques including PXRD, N2 sorption, 1HNMR, FT-IR, CD, and SEM/EDS mapping. Q-HKUST-Cys features unique properties, such as mesoporosity, high Lewis acid sites including Cu2+, Lewis base sites (NH2 group), Bronsted acid sites (COOH group), open channels, and optical activity. So, this chiral MOF exhibits excellent catalytic performance in various asymmetric reactions under mild conditions. The Q-HKUST-Cys is highly enantioselective heterogeneous and recyclable catalyst, in ring-opening of epoxide and nitroaldol reaction with up to 99 % ee, as well as 100 % and 90 % conversion, respectively. Besides, in the cycloaddition of CO2 to styrene-epoxide (STO), and production of the corresponding cyclic carbonate, this catalyst showed high performance (90 % conversion, 89 % ee) under mild conditions, at the atmospheric pressure of CO2 and in the solvent-free situation. The simultaneous presence of these properties makes Q-HKUST-Cys an attractive catalyst for the eco-friendly synthesis of fine chemicals through CC and CO bond formation. As a result, in this study, we showed that anchoring defective MOFs with multifunctional amino acids can be an effective approach for the utilization of synergistic effects in the promotion of many catalysis reactions.