The impact of an isoreticular expansion strategy on the performance of iodine catalysts supported in multivariate zirconium and aluminum metal-organic frameworks

Iodine functionalized variants of DUT-5 (Al) and UiO-67 (Zr) were prepared as expanded-pore analogues of MIL-53 (Al) and UiO-67 (Zr). They were prepared using a combination of multivariate and isorecticular expansion strategies. Multivariate MOFs with a 25% iodine-containing linker was chosen to achieve an ideal balance between a high density of catalytic sites and sufficient space for efficient diffusion. Changes to the oxidation potential of the catalyst as a result of the pore-expansion strategy led to a decrease in activity with electron rich substrates. On the other hand, these larger frameworks proved to be more efficient catalysts for substrates with higher oxidation potentials. Recyclability tests for these larger MOFs showed sustained catalytic activity over multiple recycles.