MIXING IT UP

Abstract

BY TAKING a synergistic approach, Adam J. Matzger and coworkers at the University of Michigan have combined zinc with two common organic linker groups—instead of the usual one—to construct a new type of metal-organic framework (MOF) with exceptional structural properties ( Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. , DOI: 10.1002/anie.200705020). Aside from the porous material’s potential for gas storage, catalysis, and chemical separation applications, the synthetic strategy opens a new door for using combinatorial methods to prepare novel types of MOFs. MOFs are crystalline coordination polymers with a network of pores made by linking metal atoms or clusters with organic groups. One of the most studied versions, MOF-5, is made from zinc and terephthalic acid (a dicarboxylate). Another version is MOF-177, which is made from zinc and tris(4-carboxyphenyl)benzene (a tricarboxylate). Because the linkers have different structures, the resulting MOFs have distinctive pore structures. In making the new material, Matzger’s group tr...