Rational design of metal–organic frameworks with anticipated porosities and functionalities

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks have emerged as a new category of porous materials that have intriguing structures and diverse applications. Even though the early discovery of new MOFs appears to be serendipitous, much effort has been made to reveal their structure–property relationships for the purpose of rationally designing novel frameworks with expected properties. Until now, much progress has been made to rationalize the design and synthesis of MOFs. This highlight review will outline the recent advances on this topic from both our and other groups and provide a systematic overview of different methods for the rational design of MOFs with desired porosities and functionalities. In this review, we will categorize the recent efforts for rational MOF design into two different approaches: a structural approach and a functional approach.