A Luminescent Metal-Organic Framework as a Turn-On Sensor for DMF Vapor

New materials capable of storing hydrogen at high gravimetric and volumetric densities are required if hydrogen is to be widely employed as a clean alternative to hydrocarbon fuels in cars and other mobile applications. With exceptionally high surface areas and chemically-tunable structures, microporous metal-organic frameworks have recently emerged as some of the most promising candidate materials. In this critical review we provide an overview of the current status of hydrogen storage within such compounds. Particular emphasis is given to the relationships between structural features and the enthalpy of hydrogen adsorption, spectroscopic methods for probing framework-H(2) interactions, and strategies for improving storage capacity (188 references).

This tutorial review presents recent developments of homochiral metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in enantioselective catalysis. Following a brief introduction of the basic concepts and potential virtues of MOFs in catalysis, we summarize three distinct strategies that have been utilized to synthesize homochiral MOFs. Framework stability and accessibility of the open channels to reagents are then addressed. We finally survey recent successful examples of catalytically active homochiral MOFs based on three approaches, namely, homochiral MOFs with achiral catalytic sites, incorporation of asymmetric catalysts directly into the framework, and post-synthetic modification of homochiral MOFs. Although still in their infancy, homochiral MOFs have clearly demonstrated their utility in heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis, and a bright future is foreseen for the development of practically useful homochiral MOFs in the production of optically pure organic molecules.

This critical review focuses on a strange behaviour of crystallized solid matter: its reversible swelling with large magnitude. This will be of interest for experts in porous solids but also for solid state chemists and physicists. Some examples, classified according to the dimensionality of the inorganic subnetwork, present the general requirements and the structural rules which govern the existence of this phenomenon. Its consequences concern specific applications related to sensors, energy savings, sustainable development and health (100 references).