Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are known for their high internal surface area and high crystallinity, which distinguish MOFs from other porous materials and small molecules. The capability of growing single crystals enables the determination of their exact structures to study structure related properties. One intriguing phenomenon of MOF synthesis is that starting from the same organic linkers and metal salts, different structures can be obtained by simply changing the reaction conditions. This makes MOF the best candidate for topology studies, as the same notes connect differently to form variable of nets. This topic has been extensively studied in the porphyritic-zirconium MOF series. Where 4, 12-connected ftw topology, 4, 8-connected csq topology, 4,8-connected sqc topology and 4,6-connected she topology have been reported. To expand the topology library of MOFs, we have attempted to use a tetratopic linker to construct framework materials with zirconium. By altering the synthetic reaction conditions, we have successfully constructed an MOF, named WSU-5, WSU stands for Washington State University, that possesses an scu topology. WSU-5 consists of two doubly interpenetrated nets constructed by 4-connected linkers and 8-connected Zr6 clusters. Interestingly, we have found that liner linkers can be inserted between Zr6 clusters within the same net to change the topology to a very rare sqc246 topology. What’s more, when the a smaller linker is used, the two interpenetrated nets can be connected to form a completely new topology. The confirmation of the linker is also changed with the secondary linker insertion which has a great impact on the luminescent properties. This work not only expanded the topology library of MOFs, but also provides a mean for tuning the photo-physical properties of luminescent MOFs.

Topological transformation of luminescent metal–organic frameworks

255th National Meeting (2018)

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