Porous materials are essential to our everyday lives, for example as an effective catalyst in the cracking of crude oil, or as water softeners in washing powder. When developing novel functional porous materials, it is necessary to fully understand their structure-property relationships to maximise their ability to be used in industrially relevant settings. This thesis aims to understand the mechanical and adsorption properties of a class of porous solids metal-organic frameworks (or MOFs), which have many potential applications owing to their tuneable structures. Due to the inherent 3-D crystalline structure of MOFs, a wide range crystallographic techniques were used to determine structure-property relationships. To achieve maximum in-depth structural knowledge, both classical and quantum theoretical approaches were also applied to complement the understanding of both the energetics and structural details. Chapters One and Two begin with an overview of the state of the art studies carried out on MOFs, focusing on the use of high-pressure crystallography to understand their properties. In addition, there is emphasise on the importance of complementary computational methods that are used in the characterisation of MOFs. In Chapter Three, an isostructural series of MOFs (zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, or ZIFs) were studied for methanol adsorption by employing both experimental and molecular simulation techniques. These frameworks are gating materials, where the imidazole linker rotates upon adsorption of guest, and it was found that through ligand substitution the gate opening angle and onset pressure to gating could be tuned. By using high-pressure Xray crystallography the structure of the ZIFs were studied upon the uptake of guest and the degree of ring rotation quantified. In combination with periodic DFT and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations the energy barrier to rotation and energies of adsorption could be calculated, respectively. Chapter Four focuses on one ZIF in particular, ZIF-8 ((Zn6(MeIm)12, MeIm = 2- methylimidazole) and details the adsorption of a selection of gases into the pores. The experimental method of cryogenic gas loading into a diamond anvil cell in this chapter is novel to MOFs. This method, in combination with molecular crystallography, is used to determine the structural response of the framework to guest-uptake as well as the crystallographic positions of the adsorption sites. In combination with in silico methods, the adsorption energies of guest-sites could be calculated, detailing which interactions drive the gating behaviour. The method of cryogenic loading highlighted how extreme conditions can be used to extract useful information about structural behaviour of MOFs on uptake of gas molecules into the pores, and when used in combination with computational methods, we have a powerful tool to analyse both positions and energies of adsorption sites. With this information, progress can be made in developing MOFs to maximize favourable interactions and lead to the development of MOFs with better selective gas storage properties. Chapter Five focuses on the synthesis and characterisation of the physical properties of a series of Zr-containing MOFs, called UiO-MOFs. The high valency of Zr(IV) and 12-fold coordination of the metal cluster in these materials, are associated with high shear and bulk moduli, which surpass those of other MOFs. A combination of single-crystal nano-indentation, high-pressure X-ray diffraction studies, density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to determine the compressibility, elasticity and hardness of these materials, whose mechanical robustness was correlated to their different structural features, in-particular, how using non-linear linkers between the metal clusters stabilises the framework to compression. Chapter Six expands upon the series of Zr-MOFs in Chapter Five, and looks at how the mechanical properties of these MOFs are affected upon increasing the linker length. The experimentally determined elastics modulus of one of the frameworks, UiO-sdc (Zr6O4(OH)4(sdc)6 where sdc =4,4’-stillbene dicarboxylate), was found to lie above those of other highly porous MOFs. In addition, the elastic modulus was found to decrease linearly as a function of increasing the linker length, extending the structure-property relationships determined in Chapter Five.

Les composés à base de lanthanides luminescents possèdent des propriétés uniques offrant de nombreux avantages pour l’étude de problèmes biologiques et pour le diagnostic. Ils résistent notamment à la photodécomposition, possèdent des temps de vie de luminescence longs ainsi que des bandes d’émissions étroites qui ne se recouvrent pas. De plus, certains lanthanides émettent dans le proche infrarouge, ce qui les rend particulièrement intéressants pour des applications d'’imagerie in vivo. De part l’interdiction des transitions f → f, les cations lanthanides ont des coefficients d’extinction très faibles. C’est la raison pour laquelle, il est nécessaire d’utiliser un ou plusieurs sensibilisateur(s) (comme un chromophore organique) pour exciter le lanthanide par « effet antenne ». Nous proposons ici de nouveaux composés émettant dans le proche infrarouge dont la structure permet d’incorporer une densité importante de lanthanides et de sensibilisateurs par unite de volume : i) les nano-MOF Yb-PVDC-3 constitués de chromophores dérivés de dicarboxylates de phenylènevinylène qui sensibilisent les cations Yb3+ du réseau. ii) les complexes formés avec des ligands dendrimères dérivés de polyamidoamine de génération 3 capables de sensibiliser 8 lanthanides (Eu3+, Yb3+, Nd3+) par le biais de 32 antennes dérivées du groupe 1,8-naphthalimide. La caractérisation physique, photophysique et la biocompatibilité de ces composés ont été réalisées. Ils ont montré une bonne stabilité dans différents environnements. Leur faible cytotoxicité a permis d’obtenir des images de microscopie proche infrarouge sur cellules vivantes. La preuve de principe que les nano-MOFs et les dendrimères complexant des lanthanides peuvent être utilisés comme rapporteurs luminescents in cellulo et in vivo a été ici établie. Les résultats obtenus valident la stratégie d’utiliser ce type de matériel pour augmenter le nombre de photons émis par unité de volume afin d’obtenir une meilleure sensibilité de détection. / Unique properties of luminescent lanthanides reporters explain their emergence for bioanalytical and optical imaging applications. Lanthanide ions possess long emission lifetimes, a good resistance to photodecomposition and sharp emission bands that do not overlap. In addition, several lanthanides emit in the near infrared (NIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum making them very interesting for in vivo imaging. Free lanthanide cations have low extinction coefficients due to the forbidden nature of the f → f transition. Therefore, lanthanides must be sensitized using a photonic converter such as an organic chromophore through the “antenna effect". We report here new near-infrared emitting compounds whose structure allows to incorporate a high density of lanthanide cations and sensitizers per unit volume: i) nano-MOF Yb-PVDC-3 based on Yb3+ sensitized by phenylenevinylene dicarboxylates. ii) polymetallic dendrimer complexes formed with derivatives of new generation-3 polyamidoamine dendrimers. In these complexes, 8 lanthanide ions (Eu3+, Yb3+, Nd3+) can be sensitized by the 32 antenna derived from 1,8-naphthalimide. These two families of compounds were fully characterised for their physical, photophysical properties as well as for their biological respective compatibilities. They are stable in various media and their low cytotoxicity and emission of a sufficient number of photons are suitable for near-infrared live cell imaging. One of the main goal outcomes of this work is the establishment of the proof of principle that nano- MOFs and lanthanide derived dendrimers can be used for the sensitization of NIR emitting lanthanides to create a new generation of NIR optical imaging agents suitable for both in cellulo and in vivoapplications.The present work also validates the efficiency of the strategy to use both types of nanoscale systems described here to increase the number of emitted photons per unit volume for an improved detection sensitivity and to compensate for low quantum yields.

abstract: Among the alternative processes for the traditional distillation, adsorption and membrane separations are the two most promising candidates and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are the new material candidate as adsorbent or membrane due to their high surface area, various pore sizes, and highly tunable framework functionality. This dissertation presents an investigation of the formation process of MOF membrane, framework defects, and two-dimensional (2D) MOFs, aiming to explore the answers for three critical questions: (1) how to obtain a continuous MOF membrane, (2) how defects form in MOF framework, and (3) how to obtain isolated 2D MOFs. To solve the first problem, the accumulated protons in the MOF synthesis solution is proposed to be the key factor preventing the continuous growth among Universitetet I Oslo-(UiO)-66 crystals. The hypothesis is verified by the growth reactivation under the addition of deprotonating agent. As long as the protons were sufficiently coordinated by the deprotonating agent, the continuous growth of UiO-66 is guaranteed. Moreover, the modulation effect can impact the coordination equilibrium so that an oriented growth of UiO-66 film was achieved in membrane structures. To find the answer for the second problem, the defect formation mechanism in UiO-66 was investigated and the formation of missing-cluster (MC) defects is attributed to the partially-deprotonated ligands. Experimental results show the number of MC defects is sensitive to the addition of deprotonating agent, synthesis temperature, and reactant concentration. Pore size distribution allows an accurate and convenient characterization of the defects. Results show that these defects can cause significant deviations of its pore size distribution from the perfect crystal. The study of the third questions is based on the established bi-phase synthesis method, a facile synthesis method is adopted for the production of high quality 2D MOFs in large scale. Here, pyridine is used as capping reagent to prevent the interplanar hydrogen bond formation. Meanwhile, formic acid and triethylamine as modulator and deprotonating agent to balance the anisotropic growth, crystallinity, and yield in the 2D MOF synthesis. As a result, high quality 2D zinc-terephthalic acid (ZnBDC) and copper-terephthalic acid (CuBDC) with extraordinary aspect ratio samples were successfully synthesized. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Chemical Engineering 2019

abstract: The large-scale anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leads to many unintended consequences, from rising sea levels to ocean acidification. While a clean energy infrastructure is growing, mid-term strategies that are compatible with the current infrastructure should be developed. Carbon capture and storage in fossil-fuel power plants is one way to avoid our current gigaton-scale emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, for this to be possible, separation techniques are necessary to remove the nitrogen from air before combustion or from the flue gas after combustion. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a relatively new class of porous material that show great promise for adsorptive separation processes. Here, potential mechanisms of O2/N2 separation and CO2/N2 separation are explored. First, a logical categorization of potential adsorptive separation mechanisms in MOFs is outlined by comparing existing data with previously studied materials. Size-selective adsorptive separation is investigated for both gas systems using molecular simulations. A correlation between size-selective equilibrium adsorptive separation capabilities and pore diameter is established in materials with complex pore distributions. A method of generating mobile extra-framework cations which drastically increase adsorptive selectivity toward nitrogen over oxygen via electrostatic interactions is explored through experiments and simulations. Finally, deposition of redox-active ferrocene molecules into systematically generated defects is shown to be an effective method of increasing selectivity towards oxygen. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Chemical Engineering 2019

Design of targeted functional solid-state materials for desired applications remains a scientific challenge. To overcome this hurdle, numerous synthetic strategies have been devised. It has been shown that molecules and/or clusters with pre-selected shapes, molecular building blocks (MBBs), can be utilized as units of chemical construction toward a final structure composed of those units. Typically, in metal-organic structures metal-ligand directed assembly of the MBBs, via coordination chemistry in situ, leads to the final structure. The strength of the MBB formed and, consequently, the overall rigidity of the framework are essential in their use as porous materials for applications. Lack of rigidity, i.e. instability, will ultimately lead to the collapse of the open framework upon evacuation, resulting in inaccessible pores. This phenomenon has been demonstrated repeatedly in labile metal-organic materials (MOMs) constructed via flaccid metal-nitrogen coordination (MNx) between nitrogen-based ligands and metal ions. The structures of simple metal-carboxylate clusters are welldocumented, but only recently have they been targeted for the construction of MOMs. They often possess multiple metal-oxygen coordination bonds (M(CO2)x) that result in the generation of rigid nodes with fixed geometry. Our research group has utilized heterofunctional organic linkers, taking advantage of both pyridine- and carboxylate-based functions (MNy(CO2)z), which has allowed the construction of single-metal-ion-based MBBs resulting in stabile, rigid MOMs with targeted topologies. In this dissertation, I will discuss our single-metal-ion-based design strategy and the utilization of heterofunctional ligands for MNy(CO2)z coordination of single-metal ions. I have employed this strategy to specifically target threeconnected MOMs from 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylate and MNy(CO2)z coordination of various single-metal ions, especially chiral framworks such as (10,3)-a. In addition, I have explored the MOM diversity that can be obtained via various ligand modifications, including isomerism, expansion, and functionalization. I also will show that other heterofunctional ligands can be utilized to target novel MOMs, specifically via M(CO)y(CO2)z coordination, and, resultantly, I have achieved metal-ligand directed organic synthesis and mixed-metal MOMs with magnetic tunability. I have also explored applications for MOMs, including H2 storage, and studied the barriers to rotation of the H2 molecules inside MOMs using inelastic neutron scattering to better understand the MOM-H2 interactions.

The rational design of functional solids based upon the development of strategies for controlling intermolecular interactions and structural arrangement of simple molecular building units, represents a salient feature in the context of supramolecular chemistry and crystal engineering. Consideration of chemical functionality, geometrical capability and knowledge of the interplay between two or more sets of supramolecular interactions specific of preselected chemical components will facilitate further extension of crystal engineering towards the construction of supramolecular materials possessing valuable properties. Calixarenes represent excellent building blocks for the design of solid-state architectures, in particular calix-4-arenes crystallize easily and the introduction of a wide range of director functions is relatively simple. For example, amphiphilic and pseudo-amphiphilic calixarenes may be synthesized by selective functionalization at either face of the skeleton and a second functionality may then be introduced at the opposite face. Careful examination of the crystal packing of a series of calix-4-arene derivatives systematically modified with various alkyl chain lengths at the lower rim and selected functional groups at the upper rim will be considered in the broader perspective of crystal engineering strategies and development of novel materials. Metal-organic networks are typically based upon the cross-linking of transition metal-based nodes by "spacer" organic ligands. Since there is an inherent control over the chemical nature of the components of such metal-organic structures, it is possible to design infinite architectures that possess well-defined topologies and contain cavities suitable for incorporation of guest molecules. Investigation of metal-organic networks based upon rigid ligands possessing two types of coordination sites (nicotinate and dinicotinate) and conformationally labile ligands possessing saturated fragments (glutarate and adipate) will be addressed in the context of topological approaches to the design of multi-dimensional networks with particular emphasis upon their resulting properties.

Metal-organic materials (MOMs) represent a unique class of porous materials that captured a great scientific interest in various fields such as chemical engineering, physics and materials science. They are typically assembled from metal ions or metal clusters connected by multifunctional organic ligands. They represent a wide range of families of materials that varied from 0D to 3D networks: the discrete (0D) structures exemplified by metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs), cubes and nanoballs while the polymeric 1D, 2D and 3D structures exemplified by coordination polymers (CPs). Indeed, the porous 3D structures include metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous coordination polymers (PCPs) and porous coordination networks (PCNs). Nevertheless, MOMs are long and well-known from more than 50 years ago as exemplified by CPs that were firstly introduced in early 1960s and reviewed in 1964. However, the scientific interest toward MOMs has been enormously grown only since late 1990s, with the discovery of MOMs with novel properties, especially the high permanent porosity as exemplified by MOF-5 and HKUST-1. The inherent tunability of MOMs from the de novo design to the post-synthetic modification along with their robustness, afford numerous important families of nets "platforms" such as pcu, dia, tbo, mtn and rht topology networks. There are more than 20,000 crystal structures of MOMs in the Cambridge Structure Database (CSD). However, only a few of the networks can be regarded as families or platforms where the structure is robust, fine-tunable and inherently modular. Such robustness and inherent modularity of the platforms allow the bottom-up control over the structure "form comes before function" which subsequently facilitates the systematic study of structure/function in hitherto unprecedented way compared with the traditional screening approaches that are commonly used in materials science. In this context, we present the crystal engineering of two MOM platforms; dia and novel fsc platforms as well we introduce the novel two-step synthetic approach using trigonal prismatic clusters to build multinodal 2D and 3D MOM platforms. For the dia platform, we introduce a novel strategy to control over the level of the interpenetration of dia topology nets via solvent-template control and study the impact of the resulting different pore sizes on the squeezing of CH4, CO2 and H2 gases. New benchmark material for methane isosteric heat of adsorption was produced from this novel work. Indeed we introduce the crystal engineering of a novel versatile 4,6-c fsc platform that is formed from linking two of the longest known and most widely studied MBBs: the square planar MBB [Cu(AN)4]2+( AN = aromatic nitrogen donor) and square paddlewheel MBB [Cu2(CO2R)4] that are connected by five different linkers with different length, L1-L5. The resulting square grid nets formed from alternating [Cu(AN)4]2+ and [Cu2(CO2R)4] moieties are pillared at the axial sites of the [Cu(AN)4]2+ MBBs with dianionic pillars to form neutral 3D 4,6-connected fsc (four, six type c) nets. Pore size control in this family of fsc nets was exerted by varying the length of the linker ligand whereas pore chemistry was implemented by unsaturated metal centers (UMCs) and the use of either inorganic or organic pillars. 1,5-naphthalenedisulfonate (NDS) anions pillar in an angular fashion to afford fsc-1-NDS, fsc-2-NDS, fsc-3-NDS, fsc-4-NDS and fsc-5-NDS from L1-L5, respectively. Experimental CO2 sorption studies revealed higher isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) for the compound with the smaller pore size (fsc-1-NDS). Computational studies revealed that there is higher CO2 occupancy about the UMCs in fsc-1-NDS compared to other extended variants that were synthesized with NDS. SiF62- (SIFSIX) anions in fsc-2-SIFSIX form linear pillars that result in eclipse [Cu2(CO2R)4] moieties at a distance of just 5.86 Å. The space between the [Cu2(CO2R)4] moieties is a strong CO2 binding site that can be regarded as being an example of a single-molecule trap; this finding has been supported by modeling studies. Furthermore, we present herein the implementation of the two-step synthetic approach for the construction of novel multinodal MOM platforms, using the trigonal prism cluster [M3(µ3-O)(RCO2)6] as a precursor to build novel stable multinodal 2D and 3D frameworks. In the first step, the bifunctional carboxylate ligands are reacted with Fe+3 or Cr+3 salts to isolate highly symmetrical decorated trigonal prismatic clusters with diverse decoration such as pyridine, amine and cyano coordinating functional groups using pyridine carboxylate, amino carboxylate, cyano carboxylate type ligands, respectively. Afterward, the isolated highly soluble trigonal prismatic salts were reacted in the second step with another metal that can act as node or linker to connect the discrete trigonal prismatic clusters to build 2D or 3D networks. Indeed, we were able to develop another novel high-symmetry Cu cluster [Cu3(µ3-Cl)(RNH2)6Cl6] by utilizing CuCl2 salt and amine decorated trigonal prismatic cluster. Two novel 3D water stable frameworks with acs and stp topologies have been afforded. Our work on the crystal engineering design and synthesis of new MOM platforms offer an exceptional level of control over the resulting structure including; the resulting topology, pore size, pore chemistry and thereby enable the control over the resulting physicochemical properties in a manner that facilitates the achieving of the desired properties.

Encapsulation of biomolecules is of great interest to research advances related to biology, physiology, immunology, and biochemistry, as well as industrial and biomedical applications such as drug delivery, biocatalysis, biofuel, food and cosmetics. Encapsulation provides functional characteristics that are not fulfilled by free biomolecules and stabilizes the fragile biomolecules. In terms of biocatalysis, solid support can often enhance the stability of enzymes, as well as facilitate separation and recovery for reuse while maintaining activity and selectivity. Various kinds of materials have been used for encapsulation of biomolecules, among which, porous materials are an important group. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted much attention and emerged as a new generation of highly porous functional materials with potential in a variety of fields such as gas separation and storage, catalysis, sensors and biomedical applications. Their structural versatility and amenability to be designed with specific functionality, together with their extra-large surface areas confer them a special place amongst traditional porous materials. In particular, because ligands can be designed with particular organic functional groups for specific interactions with biomolecules, they are attractive in the stabilization and retention of enzyme/proteins for biomedical or biocatalysis applications. With enlarged pore sizes, mesoporous (pore sizes in the range of 2 to 50 nm) MOFs are of great interest in the encapsulation of proteins. In this dissertation, I am focusing on the encapsulation of biomolecules into mesoporous MOFs (mesoMOFs) to estabilish the biomolecules@mesoMOF platform, including synthesis, characterization and mechanistic studies of a series of novel biomolecules@mesoMOF materials, and to develop the biomolecule@mesoMOFs platform for various applications.

Metal-organic materials (MOMs) represent an emerging class of materials comprised of molecular building blocks (MBBs) linked by organic linker ligands. MOMs recently attract great attention because of their ability to exhibit permanent porosity, thereby enabling study of properties in the context of gas storage, gas separation, solid supports for sensors, catalysis and so on. Although MOMs have been studied for over 60 years, the porous nature of MOMs was not systematically and widely explored until the early 1990's. This may be one of the reasons why template-directed synthesis of MOMs remains relatively underexplored, especially when compared to other classes of porous material (e.g. zeolite and mesoporous silicates). However, the study of template-directed synthesis exhibits great significance to the research field of MOMs as these considerations: (i) to access analogues of prototypal MOM platforms that cannot be prepared directly; (2) to create porous materials with new topologies; (3) to transfer the functionality of templates to MOMs; (4) to exert fine control over structural features. In this dissertation, I chose a functional organic material, porphyrin, as templates and succeeded to synthesize a series of porphyrin-encapsulating MOMs, (porph@MOMs), in which the porphyrins were encapsulated inside the cavities as guests. Porphyrins molecules can template the formation cavities with different shapes and sizes (e.g. triangle, square or hexagon) to accommodate the porphyrins molecules when organic ligands with different size and symmetry were utilized during the synthesis. On the other hand, the porphyrins molecules can also template the formation of octahemioctahedral cages or hexahedron cages with porphyrins trapped inside, which further built the tbo, pcu, rtl, zzz, mzz networks. By selecting templated porph@MOMs as platforms, post-synthetic modifications (PSMs) of porph@MOMs were further studied. A cadmium MOM, porph@MOM-10, can undergo PSM by Mn(II) or Cu(II) via single-crystal-to-single-crystal processes. The Mn- and Cu- exchanged PSM variants exhibit catalytic activity for epoxidation of trans-stilbene. Porph@MOM-11 can serve as a platform to undergo a new PSM process involving cooperative addition of metal salts via single-crystal-to-single-crystal processes. The incorporation of the salts leads to higher H2 and CO2 volumetric uptake and higher CO2 vs CH4 selectivity. Porph@MOM-11 was also found to be a versatile platform that can undergo metal ion exchange with Cu2+ in single-crystal-to-single-crystal fashion. The use of mixed metal salt solutions (Cu2+/Cd2+) with varying ratios of metal salts enabled systematic study of the metal exchange process in porph@MOM-11 in such a manner that, at one extreme, only the Cd porphyrin moieties undergo metal ion exchange, whereas at the other extreme both the framework and the porphyrin moiety are fully exchanged. It is also observed that a concerted PSMs approach of metal ion exchange and ligand addition towards a porphyrin-walled MOM, porphMOM-1 affords a porphyrin-encapsulating MOM, porph@MOM-14, in which porphyrin anions are encapsulated in the octahemioctahedral polyhedral cage via weak interactions. Beside of the template-directed synthesis and post-synthetic modification of porph@MOMs, pre-synthetic control of metal-organic materials' structures was also studied in this dissertation. Due to the partial flexibility of 1,3-benzenedicarboxylate linkers, kagom[eacute] lattice and NbO supramolecular isomers were observed from a complexation of bulky 1,3-benzenedicarboxylate ligand to Cu(II) paddlewheel moieties. In addition, a new family of hybrid nanoball vanadium MOM structures (Hyballs) was prepared by the self-assemble of trimesic acid with tetranuclear and pentanuclear vanadium polyoxometalates. These hyballs are robust, permanently porous and their exterior surfaces facilitate cross-linking via hydrogen bonds or coordination bonds to generate pcu networks.

Metal-organic materials (MOMs) assembled from metal-based building blocks and organic linkers have attracted much interest due to their large pore dimensions and their enormous structural diversity. In comparison to their inorganic counterparts (zeolites), these crystalline materials can be easily modified to tailor pore dimensions and functionality for specifically targeted properties. The work presented herein encompasses the development of a synthetic 2-step process for the construction of novel families of MOMs or 'platforms' and allow us exquisite design and control over the resulting network topologies. Examples of cationic mesoporous structures were initially exploited, containing carboxylate based centers connected by metal-pyridine bonds. The inherently cationic nets allowed for subsequent anion exchange which can be regarded as an elegant and easy postsynthetic modification strategy. The incorporation of different functionalities inside the channels of the networks was then demonstrated as useful in terms of carbon dioxide capture. The scope of the 2-step process was then expanded to construction of the first trinodal MOM platform involving triangular, tetrahedral and trigonal prismatic building units: tp-PMBB-1-asc. Examples of reticular chemistry are shown which enable the formation of large and functionalized nanocages with retention of the underlying network topology. Gas adsorption studies indicate relatively high uptakes of carbon dioxide and hydrogen which, together with the use of inexpensive ligands, provide an excellent cost/performance ratio of these materials. Moreover, very high stability in organic solvents and especially in water are addressed which is a particularly challenging, but industrially relevant target in the field of Metal-Organic Materials. The 2-step approach was also used to synthesize a new and versatile class of metal-organic materials with augmented lonsdaleite-e (lon-e-a) topology. This family of lon-e nets is built by pillaring of hexagonal 2-dimensional kagomé (kag) lattices that are in turn pillared by a trigonal prismatic Primary Molecular Building Block (tp-PMBB-1). These MOMs represent the first examples of axial-to-axial-pillared undulating kag layers and they are readily fine-tuned because the bdc2- moieties can be varied at their 5-position without changing the overall structure. This lon-e platform possesses functionalized hexagonal channels since the kag lattices are necessarily eclipsed. The effect of the substituent at the 5-positions of the bdc2- linkers upon gas adsorption, particularly the heats of adsorption of carbon dioxide and methane, were studied. If linear dicarboxylates were instead utilized, we were able to synthesize a new and versatile class of metal-organic materials that exhibits 4,6-connected fsb topology. These networks are constructed from simple and inexpensive building units and since interpenetration is precluded, afford very high void volumes. They therefore represent ideal targets to generate a novel family of frameworks, because of the ready availability functionalized and expanded ligand derivatives. They also allow for systematic fine tuning and could ultimately provide a roadmap to ultra-high surface areas from simple building blocks.