Redox-Active Metal-Organic Frameworks: Highly Stable Charge-Separated States through Strut/Guest-to-Strut Electron Transfer.

Abstract

Molecular organization of donor and acceptor chromophores in self-assembled materials is of paramount interest in the field of photovoltaics or mimicry of natural light-harvesting systems. With this in mind, a redox-active porous interpenetrated metal-organic framework (MOF), {[Cd(bpdc)(bpNDI)]⋅4.5 H2 O⋅DMF}n (1) has been constructed from a mixed chromophoric system. The μ-oxo-bridged secondary building unit, {Cd2 (μ-OCO)2 }, guides the parallel alignment of bpNDI (N,N'-di(4-pyridyl)-1,4,5,8-naphthalenediimide) acceptor linkers, which are tethered with bpdc (bpdcH2 =4,4'-biphenyldicarboxylic acid) linkers of another entangled net in the framework, resulting in photochromic behaviour through inter-net electron transfer. Encapsulation of electron-donating aromatic molecules in the electron-deficient channels of 1 leads to a perfect donor-acceptor co-facial organization, resulting in long-lived charge-separated states of bpNDI. Furthermore, 1 and guest encapsulated species are characterised through electrochemical studies for understanding of their redox properties.