Porous Metal-Organic Polyhedral Framework containing Cuboctahedron Cages as SBUs with High Affinity for H2 and CO2 Sorption: A Heterogeneous Catalyst for Chemical Fixation of CO2.

Abstract

Development of active porous materials that can efficiently adsorb H2 and CO2 is needed, due to their practical utilities. Here we present the design and synthesis of an interpenetrated CuII metal-organic framework (MOF) that is thermally stable, highly porous and can act as a heterogeneous catalyst. The CuII -MOF contains a highly symmetric polyhedral metal cluster (Cu24 ) with cuboctahedron geometry as secondary building unit (SBU). The double interpenetration of such huge cluster-containing nets provides a high density of open metal sites, due to which it exhibits remarkable H2 storage capacity (313 cm3 g-1 at 1 bar and 77 K) as well as high CO2 capture ability (159 cm3 g-1 at 1 bar and 273 K). Further, its propensity towards CO2 sorption can be utilized for the heterogeneous catalysis of the chemical conversion of CO2 into the corresponding cyclic carbonates upon reaction with epoxides, with high turnover number and turnover frequency values.