Catalysis

Adsorption

Photochemistry

Density functional theory

Operating system

SN2 reaction

Computer science

Linker

Stereochemistry

Physical chemistry

Organic chemistry

Metal-organic framework

Computational chemistry

Ethylene

Chemistry

Ethanol

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Some metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) incorporate nodes that are metal oxide clusters such as Zr6O8. Vacancies on the node surfaces, accidental or by design, act as catalytic sites. Here, we report elucidation of the chemistry of Zr6O8 nodes in the MOFs UiO-66 and UiO-67 having used infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies to determine the ligands on the node surfaces originating from the solvents and modifiers used in the syntheses and having elucidated the catalytic properties of the nodes for ethanol dehydration, which takes place selectively to make diethyl ether but not ethylene at 473–523 K. Density functional theory calculations show that the key to the selective catalysis is the breaking of node-linker bonds (or the accidental adjacency of open/defect sites) that allows catalytically fruitful bonding of the reactant ethanol to neighboring sites on the nodes, facilitating the bimolecular ether formation through an SN2 mechanism.

Structure and Dynamics of Zr<sub>6</sub>O<sub>8</sub> Metal–Organic Framework Node Surfaces Probed with Ethanol Dehydration as a Catalytic Test Reaction

Structure and Dynamics of Zr6O8 Metal–Organic Framework Node Surfaces Probed with Ethanol Dehydration as a Catalytic Test Reaction

Structure and Dynamics of Zr₆O₈ Metal–Organic Framework Node Surfaces Probed with Ethanol Dehydration as a Catalytic Test Reaction