Design and Synthesis of Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks

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The aim of this project is to develop strategies for the design and synthesis of metal-organic materials from molecular building blocks. Specifically, metal-carboxylate clusters will be assembled by organic links into porous scaffolds or metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These MOFs have been shown to have remarkable porosities that can reach up to five times those observed in the most porous zeolites. The generality of this approach will be tested and developed for a large number clusters and organic links of varying lengths and functionalities in order to prepare MOFs in which it is possible to change their metrics and chemical functionalities without changing their underlying topology (or backbone structure) still maintaining periodicity of the framework. This project provides unparalleled opportunities for students and postdoctoral fellows to learn chemical and physical techniques associated with both solution and solid-state chemistries, areas traditionally practiced separately. On the intellectual level, students experience the necessary synergy that must exist between design and discovery using diverse intellectual tools ranging from mathematics and the enumeration of networks to synthesis, characterization and study of the inclusion chemistry of the materials prepared.%%%Crystalline porous materials have a tremendous impact on the global economy, as they are useful in petroleum cracking, catalysis, separation and ion exchange processes. Indeed porous materials represent a (roughly) US$350 billion segment of the global economy. This project is aimed at studying the design and synthesis of new kind of porous materials in which the inorganic and organic components can be varied at will to perform highly specific function. For example, materials capable of storing hydrogen and natural gas at ambient conditions for use in mobile electronics and automobile fueling will be pursued. These applications will bring more environmentally benign fuels into mainstream use. Already, this group is establishing cooperation with industry to design hydrogen storage cartridges that employ metal-organic frameworks for use in mobile phones and laptop computers. The chemical approach that will be developed under this project has a number of implications for the education of students and young scientists. For example, researchers are now participating in a program that encourages thinking and working across several disciplines, and from materials synthesis and characterization through the development of applications.***