Zirconium- and hafnium-based metal-organic frameworks as epoxide ring-opening catalysts
AssigneeNorthwestern University
InventorsOmar K. Farha, Joseph T. Hupp, M. Hassan Beyzavi, Casey J. Stephenson, Yangyang Liu
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Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and method of using the MOFs to catalyze reactions involving epoxide ring-opening mechanisms are provided. The structure of the MOFs can be represented by the formula: M6(μ3-ligand)8(OHx)8(TBAPy)2, where M is Zr or Hf, the ligands are selected from hydroxo-, oxo- and aquo-ligands, and x is independently selected from 1 or 2.
Claims31
A method of catalyzing a reaction using a metal-organic framework comprising inorganic nodes that comprise an octahedral M6 cluster capped by eight μ3-ligands and having twelve octahedral edges, wherein M is Zr or Hf and the μ3-ligands are hydroxo ligands, oxo ligands or aquo ligands;
- and organic linkers connecting the inorganic nodes, the organic linkers comprising 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-benzoic acid)pyrene units;
- wherein eight of the twelve octahedral edges of the inorganic nodes are connected to the 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-benzoic acid)pyrene units, the method comprising:
- combining an epoxide ring-containing molecule with a reactant in the presence of a catalytic amount of the metal-organic framework in a solution, wherein the metal-organic framework catalyzes a nucleophilic epoxide ring opening of the epoxide ring-containing molecule to provide an activated epoxide and the activated epoxide reacts with the reactant to form a product molecule.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.