46. Accessing Novel Metal Organic Frameworks Using Reticular Chemistry

Abstract

Metal organic frameworks are extended porous structures prepared by joining metal ions and rigid organic building blocks together by strong metal to oxygen (or nitrogen) bonds.By understanding reactivity patterns of chosen organic linkers and metal salts the reticulation of the subunits can be predicted leading to materials that are applicable to be used in gas separation, drug delivery, and electronics.The goal of this research is to use unexplored imidazole molecules, specifically 4,5-diphenylimidazole and 2,4,5-trimethylimidazole, as secondary building units to access novel metal organic frameworks and to characterize the structure and properties of the resulting materials. In order to generate a standard for comparison, a known reaction was performed to generate zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) a well-characterized framework material. Reactions between zinc nitrate hexahydrate and the target linkers were then performed in dimethylformamide (DMF) solvent and the resulting insoluble solids were isolated. Infrared spectroscopy, powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), and nuclear magnetic resonance characterization techniques were employed to confirm the preparation of ZIF-8 and to gain insight into the structure of the resulting new products.