Issue 2, 2015

Active site engineering in UiO-66 type metal–organic frameworks by intentional creation of defects: a theoretical rationalization

Abstract

The catalytic activity of the Zr-benzenedicarboxylate (Zr-BDC) UiO-66 can be drastically increased if some BDC linkers are missing, as this removes the full coordination of the framework metal ions. As a result, metal centers become more accessible and thus more active for Lewis acid catalysed reactions. Addition of modulators (MDL) to the synthesis mixture can create more linker deficiencies (Vermoortele et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 11465) and leads to a significant increase in the catalytic activity due to the creation of a larger number of open sites. In this paper, we rationalize the function of the modulators under real synthesis conditions by the construction of free energy diagrams. The UiO-66 type materials form a very appropriate test case as the effect of addition of modulators hydrochloric acid (HCl) and trifluoroacetate (TFA) has been intensively investigated experimentally for the synthesis process and post-synthetic thermal activation. Under synthesis conditions, direct removal of BDC linkers requires a high free energy, but replacement of such linker by one or more TFA species might occur especially at high TFA : BDC ratios in the reaction mixture. Post-synthesis activation procedures at higher temperatures lead to substantial removal of the species coordinated to the Zr bricks, creating open metal sites. A mechanistic pathway is presented for the dehydroxylation process of the hexanuclear Zr cluster. For the citronellal cyclization, we show that the presence of some residual TFA in the structure may lead to faster reactions in complete agreement with the experiment. Hirshfeld-e partial charges for the Zr ions have been computed to investigate their sensitivity to substituent effects; a strong correlation with the experimental Hammett parameters and with the rates of the citronellal cyclization is found. The theoretical rationalization may serve as a basis for detailed active site engineering studies.

Graphical abstract: Active site engineering in UiO-66 type metal–organic frameworks by intentional creation of defects: a theoretical rationalization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 août 2014
Accepted
12 sept. 2014
First published
15 sept. 2014

CrystEngComm, 2015,17, 395-406

Active site engineering in UiO-66 type metal–organic frameworks by intentional creation of defects: a theoretical rationalization

M. Vandichel, J. Hajek, F. Vermoortele, M. Waroquier, D. E. De Vos and V. Van Speybroeck, CrystEngComm, 2015, 17, 395 DOI: 10.1039/C4CE01672F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements