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Author Spotlight: Functionalizing Metal-Organic Frameworks: Advancements, Challenges, and the Power of Post-Synthetic Ligand Exchange
Published on: June 23, 2023
Influence of Ligand Functionalization of UiO-66-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks When Used as Sorbents in Dispersive
Iván Taima-Mancera1, Priscilla Rocío-Bautista2, Jorge Pasán3
1Departament of Chemistry (Analytical Division), University of La Laguna, 38206 Tenerife, Spain. ivan.taima.13@ull.edu.es.
Abstract:
Four metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), specifically UiO-66, UiO-66-NH₂, UiO-66-NO₂, and MIL-53(Al), were synthesized, characterized, and used as sorbents in a dispersive micro-solid phase extraction (D-µSPE) method for the determination of nine pollutants of different nature, including drugs, phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and personal care products in environmental waters. The D-µSPE method, using these MOFs as sorbents and in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and diode-array detection (DAD), was optimized. The optimization study pointed out to UiO-66-NO₂ as the best MOF to use in the multi-component determination. Furthermore, the utilization of isoreticular MOFs based on UiO-66 with the same topology but different functional groups, and MIL-53(Al) to compare with, allowed us for the first time to evaluate the influence of such functionalization of the ligand with regards to the efficiency of the D-µSPE-HPLC-DAD method. Optimum conditions included: 20 mg of UiO-66-NO₂ MOF in 20 mL of the aqueous sample, 3 min of agitation by vortex and 5 min of centrifugation, followed by the use of only 500 µL of acetonitrile as desorption solvent (once the MOF containing analytes was separated), 5 min of vortex and 5 min of centrifugation. The validation of the D-µSPE-HPLC-DAD method showed limits of detection down to 1.5 ng·L-1, average relative recoveries of 107% for a spiked level of 1.50 µg·L-1, and inter-day precision values with relative standard deviations lower than 14%, for the group of pollutants considered.
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