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Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Synthesis of a Thiol Building Block for the Crystallization of a Semiconducting Gyroidal Metal-sulfur Framework
Published on: April 9, 2018
Efficient and selective oxidation of sulfur mustard using singlet oxygen generated by a pyrene-based metal-organic
Yangyang Liu1, Cassandra T Buru1, Ashlee J Howarth1
1Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Abstract:
A pyrene-based metal-organic framework (MOF) NU-1000 was used as a heterogeneous photocatalyst for the degradation of a sulfur mustard simulant, 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES). Using irradiation from a commercially available and inexpensive ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diode (LED), singlet oxygen (1O2) is generated by NU-1000 and selectively oxidizes CEES to the nontoxic product 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfoxide (CEESO). More importantly, this method was tested on the warfare agent sulfur mustard (HD) for the first time using 1O2 and a MOF catalyst, and this method proved to be effective in oxidizing sulfur mustard to nontoxic products without forming the toxic sulfone by-product.
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