Chemistry and Synthesis of MOFs

Metal–organic frameworks are constructed from metal ion or clusters, also known as secondary building units and polydentate organic linkers that may or may not be anionic. Organic linkers, such as carboxylate, sulfonate, or phosphonate-type linkers, can be used to make porous MOFs. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of porous organic–inorganic hybrid materials. More than 2000 MOFs have been synthesized, and many more are in the process due to their universal utility in various fields, such as gas and energy storage, catalysis, pharmaceuticals, sensing, drug delivery, and imaging. This is because MOFs are known due to their high porosity, high surface area, flexible framework, thermal stability, and diverse structures. MOF synthesis is influenced by several variables, such as metal cation or cluster, organic ligands, solvents, and reaction conditions (such as temperature and duration). There are many synthetic methods available for MOFs including solvothermal/hydrothermal, sonochemical, mechanochemical, electrochemical, microwave-assisted, exfoliated, interfacial, and coordination modulator and many more. The reaction parameters are different for every synthetic method which needs to be kept in mind during the synthesis of MOFs to get desired material. Therefore, highly porous, flexible, and large surface area MOFs can be prepared by different methods for various applications.