Volume 62, Issue 36 e202308651
Research Article

Controlled Partial Linker Thermolysis in Metal-Organic Framework UiO-66-NH2 to Give a Single-Site Copper Photocatalyst for the Functionalization of Terminal Alkynes

Mengying Li

Mengying Li

College of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130021 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Xin Liu

Xin Liu

College of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130021 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Yan Che

Yan Che

College of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130021 China

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Hongzhu Xing

Corresponding Author

Hongzhu Xing

College of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130021 China

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Fanfei Sun

Fanfei Sun

Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800 China

Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204 China

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Wei Zhou

Corresponding Author

Wei Zhou

Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250353 China

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Guangshan Zhu

Corresponding Author

Guangshan Zhu

College of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130021 China

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First published: 19 July 2023
Citations: 15

Graphical Abstract

A straightforward method of controlled partial linker thermolysis allows the microporous metal–organic framework (MOF) photocatalyst UiO-66-NH2 to expand its porosity with a tailored pore environment. The resulting material accommodates single-site Cu species, shows significant mesoporosity and enhanced charge photogeneration. It has excellent performance in photocatalytic reactions for the functionalization of terminal alkynes.

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with expanding porosity and tailored pore environments are intriguing for catalytic applications. We report herein a straightforward method of controlled partial linker thermolysis to introduce desirable mesopores into mono-ligand MOFs, which is different from the classical thermolyzing method that starts from mixed-linker MOFs. UiO-66-NH2, after partial ligand thermolysis, exhibits significant mesoporosity, retained crystal structure, improved charge photogeneration and abundant anchoring sites, which is ideal to explore single-site photocatalysis. Atomically dispersed Cu is then accommodated in the tailored pore. The resulting single-site Cu catalyst exhibits excellent performance for photocatalytic alkylation and oxidation coupling for the functionalization of terminal alkynes. The study highlights the advantage of controlled partial linker thermolysis to synthesize hierarchical MOFs to achieve the advanced single-site photocatalysis.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

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