Solvent-free heterogeneous catalysis for cyanosilylation in a dynamic cobalt-MOF

The butterfly-like tetranuclear cobalt cluster based 3D MOF [Me2NH2][Co2(bptc)(μ3-OH)(H2O)2] (1) underwent a reversible thermally triggered single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation via Co-Owater weakened intermediate 1a to produce a partly dehydrated phase [Me2NH2][Co2(bptc)(μ3-OH)(H2O)] (2), which was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, powder X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and IR spectroscopy. During the dehydration course, the local coordination environment of one Co(2+) ion was changed from the saturated octahedron to a coordinately unsaturated square-pyramid, accompanied by a crystal color change from red to purple. Compared with pristine hydrated 1, dehydrated 2 exhibits highly efficient and recyclable catalytic activity for cyanosilylation of carbonyl compounds with a low catalyst loading of 0.1 mol% Co at room temperature under solvent-free conditions, which due to the open Co(2+) sites as catalytically activated sites played a significant role in the heterogeneous catalytic process.