Immobilized Mercury Ions as Catalytically Active Sites in Metal-Organic Frameworks

本提案旨在合成和表征含汞金属-有机框架（MOFs），研究其在有机合成中的催化应用。由于汞及其化合物的即时和慢性毒性，这些材料在学术和工业合成中已在很大程度上被取代。然而，汞化合物对于某些有机反应仍然是不可避免的。在这些反应中，必须从反应混合物中去除所用的汞物质，然后进行处置。该项目提案旨在取代这些化合物，通过在MOFs中掺入汞，分别使具有催化活性的汞离子不溶于水和固定。因此，应评估合成后分离汞化合物的简便方法以及催化剂再循环的可能性。此外，这种嵌入可以增强催化活性，从而减少汞的必要量。

The present proposal aims at the synthesis and characterization of mercury containing metal-organic frameworks, MOFs, which are to be investigated for catalytic applications within organic synthesis. Due to the imminent and chronic toxicity of mercury and its compounds, these materials have been replaced within academic and industrial synthesis to a large extent. However, mercury compounds are still inevitable for some organic reactions. Within those reactions the applied mercury species have to be removed from reaction mixtures and disposed thereafter. The project proposal aims to replace those compounds.Via incorporation of mercury within MOFs, catalytically active mercury ions are to be made unsoluble and immobilized, respectively. Thus, an easy method for the separation of the mercury compound after synthesis, as well as the possibility for a recycling of the catalyst, shall be evaluated. Moreover, such an embedding can enhance the catalytic activity, thereby reducing the necessary amount of mercury.