Low temperature synthesis study of metal-organic framework CPO-27 : investigating metal, solvent and base effects down to -78 °C

We thank the EPSRC (EP/K005499/1) (EP/K503162/1) for their financial support of this project and the EPSRC Capital for Great Technologies (EP/L017008/1).CPO-27-M (M = Co, Mg, Ni, Zn) metal-organic frameworks have been successfully synthesized at temperatures down to -78 °C in a range of solvent systems and their crystallinity and morphology analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. CPO-27-Mg and -Zn could be synthesized at lower temperatures using MeOH-NaOH as the solvent with CPO-27-Zn showing the most crystalline material at -78 °C. CPO-27-Zn afforded the most crystalline samples of all studies in MeOH-TEA. However, in MeOH a non-porous monomeric [Zn(H2dhtp)(H2O)2] complex was formed when no base was present. In THF with base (NaOH, TEA) the reaction produced crystalline MOFs in a controlled and stable manner at low temperatures, whilst the reagents were insoluble in THF at low temperature when no base was present. SEM was used to analyze the morphologies of the products.PostprintPeer reviewe

A single crystal study of CPO-27 and UTSA-74 for nitric oxide storage and release

Funding: UK EPSRC EP/K005499/1, EP/K503162, and EP/L017008/1).Single crystal CPO-27-Mg, -Zn and its structural isomer UTSA-74 have been prepared through use of acid modulators; salicylic acid and benzoic acid, respectively. Salicylic acid directed the synthesis of CPO-27-Mg/Zn whereas benzoic acid the synthesis of UTSA-74. Through “in-house” SCXRD, DMF was seen to bind to the Zn2+ and water to the Mg2+ metal sites in CPO-27-M. Although the synthesis conditions were analogous for UTSA-74, DMF is too large to bind due to the proximity of the binding sites. A dissolution–recrystallisation transformation was examined from UTSA-74 to CPO-27-Zn. The release of nitric oxide was measured for each material.PostprintPeer reviewe

In situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies of physisorption and chemisorption of SO2 within a metal-organic framework and its competitive adsorption with water

Funding: The authors are also grateful for financial assistancefrom the ERC under advanced grant 787073, the EPSRC for a studentship (EP/N509759/1) and support via the Collaborative Computational Projecton NMR Crystallography CCP-NC (EP/T02662/1), and the CRITICAT Centre for Doctoral Training (EP/L016419/1).Living on an increasingly polluted planet, the removal of toxic pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) from the troposphere and power station flue gas is becoming more and more important. The CPO-27/MOF-74 family of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with their high densities of open metal sites is well suited for the selective adsorption of gases that, like SO2, bind well to metals and have been extensively researched both practically and through computer simulations. However, until now, focus has centered upon the binding of SO2 to the open metal sites in this MOF (called chemisorption, where the adsorbent–adsorbate interaction is through a chemical bond). The possibility of physisorption (where the adsorbent–adsorbate interaction is only through weak intermolecular forces) has not been identified experimentally. This work presents an in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction (scXRD) study that identifies discrete adsorption sites within Ni-MOF-74/Ni-CPO-27, where SO2 is both chemisorbed and physisorbed while also probing competitive adsorption of SO2 of these sites when water is present. Further features of this site have been confirmed by variable SO2 pressure scXRD studies, DFT calculations, and IR studies.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Hierarchical MTW zeolites in tetrahydropyranylation of alcohols : comparison of bottom-up and top-down methods

Authors thank the Czech Science Foundation for financial support (17-06524Y). H.P. and J.Y. thank to the 111 project of the Ministry of Education of China (B17020). M.M. and S.M.V. acknowledge the support of EPSRC grant EP/K025112/1 and Capital for Great Technologies Grant EP/L017008/1.Despite a widespread application of zeolites in catalysis, these microporous materials still suffer from a low accessibility of active sites located deep in crystals due to limited size of channels (< 1 nm). Here, we prepared a series of micro-mesoporous zeolites with MTW topology and similar Si/Al molar ratio (50). Two topical approaches were applied here: i. bottom-up synthesis with a surfactant-SDA leading to so-called nanosponge material; ii. top-down desilication of bulk crystals by NaOH solution in the presence of tetraalkylammonium cations (TAA+). Prepared materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, sorption of nitrogen, adsorption of pyridine and di-tert-butyl-pyridine followed by FTIR, solid state 27Al NMR, ICP-OES, SEM, TEM, and STEM-EDS. It was found that the desilication of MTW in the presence of TAA+ proceeds in different pathway compared to well-studied MFI. This variance was attributed to the different dimensionality of their channel systems (1D vs. 3D). Materials were tested in tetrahydropyranylation of alcohols differing in a chain length and degree of branching. The nanosponge MTW shows generally very good performance. Nevertheless, in cases of the branched alcohols MTW materials desilicated in the presence of TAA+ exhibited comparable or even higher activity than nanosponge based on TOF values. Therefore, desilicated MTW presents cheaper and equally or more effective catalyst compared to nanosponge material with the same topology.PostprintPeer reviewe

Surface functionalized metal-organic frameworks for binding coronavirus proteins

This work was supported by University of St Andrews Restarting Research Funding Scheme (SARRF), funded through the SFC grant reference SFC/AN/08/020 (XRR064) and European Research Council grant ADOR (Advanced Grant 787073). The authors acknowledge the EPSRC Light Element Analysis Facility Grant (EP/T019298/1) and the EPSRC Strategic Equipment Resource Grant (EP/R023751/1).Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, a multitude of strategies have been explored for the means of protection and shielding against virus particles: filtration equipment (PPE) has been widely used in daily life. In this work, we explore another approach in the form of deactivating coronavirus particles through selective binding onto the surface of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to further the fight against the transmission of respiratory viruses. MOFs are attractive materials in this regard, as their rich pore and surface chemistry can easily be modified on demand. The surfaces of three MOFs, UiO-66(Zr), UiO-66-NH2(Zr), and UiO-66-NO2(Zr), have been functionalized with repurposed antiviral agents, namely, folic acid, nystatin, and tenofovir, to enable specific interactions with the external spike protein of the SARS virus. Protein binding studies revealed that this surface modification significantly improved the binding affinity toward glycosylated and non-glycosylated proteins for all three MOFs. Additionally, the pores for the surface-functionalized MOFs can adsorb water, making them suitable for locally dehydrating microbial aerosols. Our findings highlight the immense potential of MOFs in deactivating respiratory coronaviruses to be better equipped to fight future pandemics.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Low temperature synthesis study of metal-organic framework CPO-27:investigating metal, solvent and base effects down to -78 °C

CPO-27-M (M = Co, Mg, Ni, Zn) metal-organic frameworks have been successfully synthesized at temperatures down to -78 °C in a range of solvent systems and their crystallinity and morphology analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. CPO-27-Mg and -Zn could be synthesized at lower temperatures using MeOH-NaOH as the solvent with CPO-27-Zn showing the most crystalline material at -78 °C. CPO-27-Zn afforded the most crystalline samples of all studies in MeOH-TEA. However, in MeOH a non-porous monomeric [Zn(H2dhtp)(H2O)2] complex was formed when no base was present. In THF with base (NaOH, TEA) the reaction produced crystalline MOFs in a controlled and stable manner at low temperatures, whilst the reagents were insoluble in THF at low temperature when no base was present. SEM was used to analyze the morphologies of the products

Antibacterial efficacy from NO-releasing MOF–polymer films

Authors gratefully thank the following funding sources for financial support: Scottish Enterprise (POC13), EPSRC (EP/K005499/1 and Capital for Great Technologies grant EP/L017008/1), European Social Fund Studentship and the University of St Andrews School of Chemistry.The formulation and antibacterial efficacy of nitric oxide (NO)-releasing MOF–polyurethane films are reported for the first time. Uniform standalone films were successfully prepared containing 1, 5, 10, and 15 wt% CPO-27 (Ni). The MOF within each film was successfully activated and loaded with NO. Adsorption and release profiles are reported for the films and show that while the polymer influences the quantity of NO adsorbed and stored by the MOF and the time scale of release; the proportion of stored NO that is released is dependent on wt% loading of MOF in the film. In a cytotoxicity assay, the formulations exhibited very low toxicity (<20% cell death), and this toxicity was attributed to the NO rather than the MOF. Antibacterial data against E. coli and S. aureus indicated that bactericidal efficacy can be achieved in 5 hours from 1 wt% films, and within 1 hour for films containing at least 5 wt% MOF.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Hierarchical MTW zeolites in tetrahydropyranylation of alcohols:comparison of bottom-up and top-down methods

Despite a widespread application of zeolites in catalysis, these microporous materials still suffer from a low accessibility of active sites located deep in crystals due to limited size of channels (&lt; 1 nm). Here, we prepared a series of micro-mesoporous zeolites with MTW topology and similar Si/Al molar ratio (50). Two topical approaches were applied here: i. bottom-up synthesis with a surfactant-SDA leading to so-called nanosponge material; ii. top-down desilication of bulk crystals by NaOH solution in the presence of tetraalkylammonium cations (TAA+). Prepared materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, sorption of nitrogen, adsorption of pyridine and di-tert-butyl-pyridine followed by FTIR, solid state 27Al NMR, ICP-OES, SEM, TEM, and STEM-EDS. It was found that the desilication of MTW in the presence of TAA+ proceeds in different pathway compared to well-studied MFI. This variance was attributed to the different dimensionality of their channel systems (1D vs. 3D). Materials were tested in tetrahydropyranylation of alcohols differing in a chain length and degree of branching. The nanosponge MTW shows generally very good performance. Nevertheless, in cases of the branched alcohols MTW materials desilicated in the presence of TAA+ exhibited comparable or even higher activity than nanosponge based on TOF values. Therefore, desilicated MTW presents cheaper and equally or more effective catalyst compared to nanosponge material with the same topology