Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2025

Development of Heterogeneous Enantioselective Catalysts using Chiral Metal-Organic Frameworks MOFs
Published on: January 17, 2020
Fe-2,5-furandicarboxylate Metal Organic Frameworks with Rare Building Blocks and a Ligand that can be Biomass-Derived
Satarupa Das1, Omar Al-Miqdadi1, Wai Wing Cheng1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
Abstract:
We report two three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks constructed from Fe3+ and the ligand, 2,5-furandicarboxylate (FDC) that can be derived from biomass. One contains an unprecedented infinite-rod-shaped building unit, and the other is the first crystalline framework of FDC that contains solely iron in the metal nodes. The materials are formed as microcrystals and their structures are determined using 3D-electron diffraction with the bulk confirmed by powder XRD. UOW-7, NaFe5O3(FDC)4(CH3COO)2(H2O) is a bimetallic structure with acetate as co-ligand, constructed from infinite chains of iron octahedra, wherein tetramers comprising edge-sharing pairs linked by corner sharing octahedra are crosslinked by FDC ligands. In contrast, UOW-8, [Fe2O(FDC)2(H2O)2]⋅(H2O)4 contains a rare form of tetrameric building unit, cross-linked by FDC, and having Fe-bound water as well as occluded water. The materials crystallise under hydrothermal conditions and are water-stable coordination polymers with no measurable free pore space. The catalytic ability of UOW-7 and UOW-8 is, nevertheless, established in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by borohydride, where both act as recyclable, catalysts to give ~100 % yield of the product without use of precious metals. UOW-8 is found to have the more favourable reaction kinetics, likely due to the presence of surface Lewis acidic Fe3+ centres that enhance substrate binding.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Preparation of Amines: Reduction of Oximes and Nitro Compounds
Though catalytic hydrogenation can reduce nitrobenzenes, the reduction is nonselective in the presence of other functional groups. For instance, if nitrobenzene contains an aldehyde group,...
Alcohols from Carbonyl Compounds: Reduction
Catalytic hydrogenation is similar to the reduction of an alkene or alkyne by adding H2 across the pi bond in the presence of transition metal catalysts like Raney Ni, Pd–C, Pt, or Ru. Aldehydes and ketones can be reduced by this method, often under mild to moderate heat (25–100°C) and...
Preparation of Aldehydes and Ketones from Nitriles and Carboxylic Acids
Reducing carboxylic acid derivatives like acyl chlorides (RCOCl), esters (RCO2R′), and nitriles (RCN) using milder aluminum hydride agents like lithium tri-tert-butoxyaluminum hydride [LiAlH(O-t-Bu)3] and diisobutylaluminum hydride [DIBAL-H]...
Properties of Organometallic Compounds
Benzene to 1,4-Cyclohexadiene: Birch Reduction Mechanism

