<br/>Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are multidimensional structures comprised of metal nodes connected by organic ligands forming highly ordered multidimensional arrays. These materials were investigated for a wide variety of applications including electrocatalysis and solar cell, among others. Corrole is a nitrogen based macrocycle that is known to form complexes with a variety of metals, and has intrinsic catalytic properties that are dependent on the metal center and the substituents around the corrole core. The goal of this study is to design and synthesize a Zr based MOF using either porphyrin or corrole based ligands to generate novel MOF structures and test their properties. Of particular interest is electrocatalytic activity of corroles towards oxygen and carbon dioxide reduction, as well as water oxidation. First, the corrole functionalized with benzoate groups capable of coordinating to Zr was synthesized using a standard condensation reaction between pyrrole and an aldehyde and its purity confirmed by <sup>1</sup>H NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. In the next step, a synthesis of MOFs was attempted using the free base ligand, from which several powders were obtained. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis revealed that these powders had poor crystallinity and therefore their structure could not be determined at this stage. Known porphyrin MOFs were synthesized using a variety of modulators. The crystallinity of these MOFs was confirmed using PXRD.<br/>Future work includes further optimization of the MOF synthesis with the goal of obtaining crystalline materials that could be used for structure elucidation. Testing the electrocatalytic and light absorption capability of porphyrin based MOFs and how they differ depending on which modulator is used is also of interest. Furthermore, different metals will be incorporated inside the corrole core which will then be used to synthesize electrocatalytically active MOFs.

Incorporation of corrole and porphyrin based ligands into metal-organic frameworks

256th National Meeting (2018)

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