Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are a subfamily of porous metal organic frameworks (MOFs) which mimic the 145 degree Si-O-Si dihedral angle in zeolite minerals. They are prepared by reacting metal salts with imidazole linkers to form crystalline materials that have found application in gas separation, drug delivery, and catalysis. The purpose of this research is to study the steric and structural directing effects of an unexplored disubstituted linker, 4,5-diphenylimidazole, with a variety of metal centers on the formation of new materials which we hypothesize will be novel frameworks. This linker was chosen to add hydrophobic dynamics to the framework at the 4- and 5- positions, which could lead to greater stability in aqueous environments. Different metal nitrates were selected to study the potential linker to metal coordination patterns and the effect they have on the resulting structure of the material as well as potential application properties. In this study, reactions between the linker and Cd, Co, and Zn nitrates were performed in dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent leading to the isolation of solid products. The products have been characterized by optical microscopy, FT-IR, <sup>1</sup>H-NMR, PXRD, and XRF to provide information about the microstructure, crystallinity, and presence of metals/linkers. Initial combing of the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and comparison to obtained PXRD patterns suggest that the products obtained herein are novel, however, further studies are underway to elucidate the exact structure of the obtained materials and to examine their application in catalysis.

Exploring reactions between 4,5-diphenylimidazole and metal nitrates for access to novel framework materials

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

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