Conquering the crystallinity conundrum : efforts to increase quality of covalent organic frameworks

Due to their high designability, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are attractive candidates in many different applications. However, COF synthesis is still poorly understood and mainly trial and error based. In this review, we pave the way to a better understanding of COF chemistry and the synthesis of high-quality COFs. To achieve this goal, the main challenge in COF synthesis, the crystallization problem, is explained. Additionally, mechanisms for boroxine and imine COF formation are proposed. Afterwards, several approaches to increase COF quality are discussed: addition of modulators, slowing down monomer addition, improvement of used catalysts, study of solubility effects and interfacial synthesis, application of exchange reactions and finally linker specific observations. The discussed techniques can be seen as a toolbox usable for the synthesis of high-quality COFs

Metalporphyrin on PMO catalysts for the conversion of CO2 to cyclic carbonates

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Functionalized periodic mesoporous organosilicas : from metal free catalysis to sensing

In this work a widely usable post-modification route for periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) was developed. Using the developed method, two diverse ligands, picolinic acid (Pic) and 4,4 ',4 '',4 '''-porphyrin-5,10,15,20-tetrayltetrabenzoic acid (Porph), were successfully covalently coupled onto the PMO material and well-characterized. Both obtained materials show high BET surface areas (565 m(2) g(-1) for Pic@PMO, 483 m(2) g(-1) for Porph@PMO and 548 m(2) g(-1) for the unmodified PMO) and pore sizes (5.1 nm). The materials were subsequently tested for their catalytic activity in the cycloaddition of epoxide and CO2, a frequently studied carbon capture and utilization reaction. Interestingly, both materials showed very good reactivity (with conversions of up to 90%) as metal free heterogeneous catalysts and proved to be perfectly stable in recyclability and aging tests. Moreover, by (co-)grafting Eu3+ and Tb3+ ions onto Pic@PMO and Yb3+ ions onto Porph@PMO a strong emission was observed in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) range, respectively. Eu,Tb@Pic@PMO showed potential for use as a temperature sensor in the physiological range (a maximum S-r value of 2.11 %K-1 was obtained at 273 K), while Yb@Porph@PMO could efficiently be excited within the human tissue penetrating window showing characteristic Yb3+ luminescence (with decay times of around 10 mu s). These findings prove that simple modifications of this PMO can provide smart materials for very diverse applications

Strongly Reducing (Diarylamino)benzene-Based Covalent Organic Framework for Metal-Free Visible Light Photocatalytic H2O2 Generation

Photocatalytic reduction of molecular oxygen is a promising route toward sustainable production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This challenging process requires photoactive semiconductors enabling solar energy driven generation and separation of electrons and holes with high charge transfer kinetics. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of photoactive semiconductors, tunable at a molecular level for high charge carrier generation and transfer. Herein, we report two newly designed two-dimensional COFs based on a (diarylamino)benzene linker that form a Kagome (kgm) lattice and show strong visible light absorption. Their high crystallinity and large surface areas (up to 1165 m(2)center dot g(-1)) allow efficient charge transfer and diffusion. The diarylamine (donor) unit promotes strong reduction properties, enabling these COFs to efficiently reduce oxygen to form H2O2. Overall, the use of a metal-free, recyclable photocatalytic system allows efficient photocatalytic solar transformations.DFG, 390540038, EXC 2008: Unifying Systems in Catalysis "UniSysCat"EC/H2020/665501/EU/[PEGASUS]², giving wings to your career./PEGASUS-2EC/H2020/834134/EU/Water Forced in Hydrophobic Nano-Confinement: Tunable Solvent System/WATUSOEC/H2020/647755/EU/First principle molecular dynamics simulations for complex chemical transformations in nanoporous materials/DYNPO

Visible light‐fueled mechanical motions with dynamic phosphorescence induced by topochemical [2+2] reactions in organoboron crystals

In the quest for essential energy solutions towards an ecological friendly future, the transformation of visible light/solar energy into mechanical motions in metal‐free luminescent crystals offers a sustainable choice of smart materials for lightweight actuating, and all‐organic electronic devices. Such green energy‐triggered photodynamic motions with room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) emission in molecular crystals have not been reported yet. Here, we demonstrate three new stoichiometrically different Lewis acid‐base molecular organoboron crystals (PS1, PS2, and PS3), which exhibit rapid photosalient effects (ballistic splitting, moving, and jumping) under both ultraviolet (UV) and visible light associated with quantitative single‐crystal‐to‐single‐crystal (SCSC) [2+2] cycloaddition of preorganized olefins. Furthermore, these systems respond to sunlight and mobile (white) flashlight with a complete SCSC transformation in a relatively slow fashion. Remarkably, all PS1, PS2, and PS3 crystals display visible light‐promoted dynamic green RTP as their emission peaks promptly blue‐shift, due to instantaneous photomechanical effects. Time‐dependent structural mapping of intermediate photoproducts during fast SCSC [2+2] photoreaction, by X‐ray photodiffraction, reveals a rationale for the origin of these photodynamic motions associated with rapid topochemical transformations. The reported light‐driven behavior (mechanical motions, dynamic phosphorescence, and topochemical reactivity), is considered advantageous for the strategic design of stimuli‐responsive multi‐functional crystalline materials