New Approach to Synthesising Metal-organic Frameworks

What is it about?

A greener, more economical method was developed using resonant acoustic mixing for the large-scale synthesis of metal-organic frameworks

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Photo by Zara Walker on Unsplash

Photo by Zara Walker on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We present a rapid and readily scalable methodology for the mechanosynthesis of diverse metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in the absence of milling media typically required for other types of mechanochemical syntheses. We demonstrate the use of liquid-assisted resonant acoustic mixing (LA-RAM) methodology for the synthesis of three- and two-dimensional MOFs based on Zn(II), Co(II) and Cu(II), including a mixed ligand system. Importantly, the LA-RAM approach also allowed the synthesis of the ZIF-L framework that has never been previously obtained in a mechanochemical environment, as well as its Co(II) analogue. Straightforward scale-up from milligrams to at least 25 grams is demonstrated using the metastable framework ZIF-L as the model.