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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Synthesis and Characterization of Functionalized Metal-organic Frameworks
Published on: September 5, 2014
Metal-Organic Frameworks as Hosts for Fluorinated Azobenzenes: A Path towards Quantitative Photoswitching with
Daniela Hermann1, Heidi A Schwartz1, Melanie Werker1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Cologne, Greinstraße 6, 50939, Köln, Germany.
Abstract:
Fifteen new photochromic hybrid materials were synthesized by gas phase loading of fluorinated azobenzenes, namely ortho-tetrafluoroazobenzene (tF-AZB), 4H,4H'-octafluoroazobenzene (oF-AZB), and perfluoroazobenzene (pF-AZB), into the pores of the well-known metal-organic frameworks MOF-5, MIL-53(Al), MIL-53(Ga), MIL-68(Ga), and MIL-68(In). Their composition was analysed by elemental (CHNS) and DSC/TGA. For pF-AZB0.34 @MIL-53(Al), a structural model based on high-resolution synchrotron powder diffraction data was developed and the host-guest and guest-guest interactions were elucidated from this model. These interactions of O-H⋅⋅⋅F and π⋅⋅⋅π type were confirmed by significant shifts of the O-H frequencies in loaded and unloaded MOFs of the MIL-53 and MIL-68 series. Most remarkably, all of the synthesized F-AZB@MOF systems can be switched with visible light, and some of them show almost quantitative (>95 %) photo-isomerization between its E and Z forms with no significant fatigue after repeated switching cycles.
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