Multiple Functional Groups of Varying Ratios in Metal-Organic Frameworks

We show that metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can incorporate a large number of different functionalities on linking groups in a way that mixes the linker, rather than forming separate domains. We made complex MOFs from 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate (denoted by "A" in this work) and its derivatives -NH₂, -Br, -(Cl)₂, -NO₂, -(CH₃)₂, -C₄H₄, -(OC₃H₅)₂, and -(OC₇H₇)₂ (denoted by "B" to "I," respectively) to synthesize 18 multivariate (MTV) MOF-5 type structures that contain up to eight distinct functionalities in one phase. The backbone (zinc oxide and phenylene units) of these structures is ordered, but the distribution of functional groups is disordered. The complex arrangements of several functional groups within the pores can lead to properties that are not simply linear sums of those of the pure components. For example, a member of this series, MTV-MOF-5-EHI, exhibits up to 400% better selectivity for carbon dioxide over carbon monoxide compared with its best same-link counterparts.