Interwoven Metal-Organic Framework on a Periodic Minimal Surface with Extra-Large Pores

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2001-02, Vol.291 (5506), p.1021-1023
• Main Authors: Chen, Banglin, Eddaoudi, M., Hyde, S. T., O'Keeffe, M., Yaghi, O. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Atoms; Biochemistry; Catenanes; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Crystal structure; Disperse systems; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Inorganic compounds; Isotherms; Materials science; Mathematical rings; Metrorrhagia; Minimal surfaces; Miscellaneous; Organic Chemistry; Organic compound synthesis; Organic compounds; Physics; Porosity; Porous materials; Solvents; Sorption; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Structure of specific crystalline solids; Synthesis; Vertices
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1056598

Interpenetration (catenation) has long been considered a major impediment in the achievement of stable and porous crystalline structures. A strategy for the design of highly porous and structurally stable networks makes use of metal-organic building blocks that can be assembled on a triply periodic P-minimal geometric surface to produce structures that are interpenetrating-more accurately considered as interwoven. We used 4,4′,4″-benzene-1,3,5-triyl-tribenzoic acid (H3BTB), copper(II) nitrate, and N, N′-dimethylformamide (DMF) to prepare Cu3(BTB)2(H2O)3· (DMF)9(H2O)2(MOF-14), whose structure reveals a pair of interwoven metal-organic frameworks that are mutually reinforced. The structure contains remarkably large pores, 16.4 angstroms in diameter, in which voluminous amounts of gases and organic solvents can be reversibly sorbed.