Hybrid organic-inorganic microporous materials with desired functionalities
The revolutionary process of turning from molecules to supramolecules that took less than half a century has paved the way for the abundance of new applications-oriented fields of endeavor, where metal-organic framework (MOF) chemistry has emerged as the most widely investigated today.1 The basic tenet underlying this area of science is that by taking a one of limitless number of 2D or 3D nets as a blueprint one can construct a crystal framework by a simple combination of carefully chosen inorganic (connectors) and organic (linkers) building blocks,2 with the resulting supramolecular structure exhibiting desired functions and properties. This novel concept in chemistry has captured imaginations of many chemists aware of the growing opportunity for the development of new generation of zeolite-like materials whose structure, chemical composition and functions can be engineered to meet one of several applications. In fact, intensive studies in this area have been particularly fruitful to deliver a range of advanced materials with intriguing novel properties, record-breaking parameters, and wide range of applications to be employed in, including storage and separation of small molecules and highly selective heterogeneous catalysis. The great potential and significance of this technology has not been overlooked by chemical industry, being BASF the first company that produces MOFs with BASOLITE trademark for their experimental purposes.3
We are aimed at synthesis and characterization of novel organometallic building units based on transition or 12 and 13 group metal complexes of multifunctional organic ligands, and further evaluation of their utilities as precursors of hybrid organic-inorganic microporous materials with desired functionalities. The important objectives are to develop novel advantageous methods of materials fabrication by self-assembly processes in liquid or solid state and evaluate the possibility of their subsequent post-synthetic modification by taking advantage of the high reactivity of M-C bonds existing in the obtained metallosupramolecular architectures. The highlighted investigations would significantly contribute to fundamental understanding of the nature of self-assembly and mechanochemical processes providing simultaneously opportunities for original discoveries in the field of materials science.