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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Author Spotlight: Functionalizing Metal-Organic Frameworks: Advancements, Challenges, and the Power of Post-Synthetic Ligand Exchange
Published on: June 23, 2023
Ligand-Directed Reticular Synthesis of Catalytically Active Missing Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks
Zhijie Chen1, Penghao Li1, Xingjie Wang1
1Department of Chemistry and International Institute of Nanotechnology , Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road , Evanston , Illinois 60208 , United States.
Abstract:
Zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) based on edge-transitive nets such as fcu, spn, she, csq, and ftw with diverse potential applications have been widely reported. Zr-MOFs based on the highly connected 6,12-connected alb net, however, remain absent on account of synthetic challenges. Herein we report the ligand-directed reticular syntheses and isoreticular expansion of a series of Zr-MOFs with the edge-transitive alb net from 12-connected hexagonal-prismatic Zr6 nodes and 6-connected trigonal-prismatic linkers, i.e., microporous NU-1600, mesoporous NU-1601, and mesoporous NU-1602. These Zr-MOFs exhibit remarkable activities toward the destruction of a nerve agent (soman) and a nerve agent simulant (DMNP).
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