Structure of the Polymer Backbones in polyMOF Materials

Author(s)
P. G. M. Mileo , Shichen Yuan , S. Ayala Jr. , Pu Duan , R. Semino , Seth M. Cohen # , Klaus Schmidt-Rohr # and Guillaume Maurin #
Publisher
J. Am. Chem. Soc.
Year
2020
Volume
142
Issue
24
Pages
10863–10868
DOI
10.1021/jacs.0c04546

Abstract

The molecular connectivity of polymer−metal−organic framework (polyMOF) hybrid materials was investigated using density functional theory calculations and solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The architectural constraints that dictate the formation of polyMOFs were assessed by examining poly(1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) (pbdc) polymers in two archetypical MOF lattices (UiO-66 and IRMOF-1). Modeling of the polyMOFs showed that in the IRMOF-1-type lattice, six, seven, and eight methylene (−CH2−) groups between 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate (terephthalate, bdc2–) units can be accommodated without significant distortions, while in the UiO-66-type lattice, an optimal spacing of seven methylene groups between bdc2– units is needed to minimize strain. Solid-state NMR supports these predictions and reveals pronounced spectral differences for the same polymer in the two polyMOF lattices. With seven methylene groups, polyUiO-66-7a shows 7 ± 3% of uncoordinated terephthalate linkers, while these are undetectable (<4%) in the corresponding polyIRMOF-1-7a. In addition, NMR-detected backbone mobility is significantly higher in the polyIRMOF-1-7a than in the corresponding polyUiO-66-7a, again indicative of taut chains in the latter.