Metal-organic Frameworks (MOFs) sind eine neue Klasse poröser und kristalliner Feststoffe, die durch ihren modularen Aufbau aus organischen und anorganischen Einheiten einzigartige Eigenschaften unter den porösen Materialien besitzen. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Arbeit steht ihre Anwendung im Bereich der Gaschromatographie, die bislang nur wenig erforscht ist. Dazu werden drei verschiedene MOFs aus der Reihe der „Pillared Paddle-Wheel Frameworks“ (PPFs) in GC Kapillarsäulen abgeschieden und untersucht. Durch systematische Messungen kann gezeigt werden, dass PPFs nicht nur zur Analyse flüchtiger organischer Verbindungen, sondern auch für spezielle Anwendungen wie Größenausschlusschromatographie und Enantiomerentrennungen anwendbar sind. Weiterhin wurden Adsorptionsenthalpien und -entropien sowie Diffusionskonstanten und Massenübergangskoeffizienten für ein breites Analytenspektrum bestimmt.

In this work, fluorous metal organic framework 1 (FMOF-1) and its isomorphic structures are investigated for both sensing and filtration applications. In chapter 2 both FMOF-1 and its acetone derivative, aFMOF-1, are shown to exhibit an unusual photoluminescent behavior by having a "turn-on" emission when exposed to vacuum. This baroluminescence occurs at different rates depending on specific gas, allowing FMOF-1 and aFMOF-1 to not only act as vacuum gauges, but also potentially act as sensors for gas identification. Chapter 3 focuses on chemical sensing properties (chemosensing) of the newly discovered second methanol derivative of FMOF-1, mFMOF-2. mFMOF-2 has been shown to be air and water stable, however exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) will cause quenching or shifts in emission. Finally, chapter 4 investigates the ability of combining MOFs with more traditional sorbents to investigate the possibility of a hybrid material that takes advantage of both materials. MOFs have long been investigated for their filtration properties, however the high cost of synthesis of MOFs compared to the cost-efficient common filters hamstrings their real-world implementations. Combining a small percentage of FMOF-1 with activated carbon is seen to improve the filtration efficiency and to increase the hydrophobic properties. This hybrid filtration material avoids the problems associated with the cost of synthetic filtration materials since only 0.1% mass additive is shown to yield significantly improved results.

This thesis combines solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical synthesis, isotopic enrichment and density-functional theory (DFT) calculations to provide insight into a number of microporous materials. The first class of materials studied is metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), where the presence of paramagnetic ions has a range of effects on the ¹³C NMR spectra, depending on the nature of the ligand-metal interactions. For the Cu²⁺-based MOFs, HKUST-1 and STAM-1, the assignment of the NMR spectra is non-intuitive, and unambiguous assignment requires specific ¹³C labelling of the organic linker species. It is shown that ¹³C NMR spectra of these two MOFs could act as a sensitive probe of the nature of “guest” molecules bound to the Cu²⁺. The second class of materials is aluminophosphates (AlPOs). It is shown that, using a series of relatively simple linear relationships with the crystal structure, the NMR parameters calculated by DFT (with calculation times of several hours) can be predicted, often with experimentally-useful accuracy, in a matter of seconds using the DIStortion analysis COde (DISCO), which is introduced here. The ambient hydration of the AlPO, JDF-2, to AlPO-53(A) is shown to occur slowly, with incomplete hydration after ~3 months. The resulting AlPO-53(A) is disordered and some possible models for this disorder are investigated by DFT. The final class of materials is gallophosphates (GaPOs), particularly GaPO-34 and related materials. The two as-prepared forms of GaPO-34 are characterised by solid-state NMR, and their calcination investigated by TGA and in-situ powder XRD. An unusual dehydrofluorinated intermediate phase is isolated and characterised for the first time by solid-state NMR. The fully calcined material is shown to be stable under anhydrous conditions, but hydrates rapidly in air. The hydrated material is stable under ambient conditions, but collapses upon heating. Partial dehydration without collapse is achieved by gentle heating or room-temperature evacuation. The impurity phases, GaPO₄ berlinite and GaPO-X are investigated by solid-state NMR and, while the structure of GaPO-X remains unknown, much structural information is obtained.

Metal Organic Framework (MOF) materials, consisting of metal ions with organic linkers, have a functional cavity structure which can be utilized in applications such as catalyst, micro sensing, and gas absorption. Due to MOF materials' selective gas adsorption property, interest in MOF materials has intensified in the last few years, particularly for CO, CO₂, N₂, CH₄, and H₂. MOF materials are typically synthesized by reaction under hydrothermal conditions which yields a highly crystalline product. However, reaction under solvothermal condition typically requires long reaction times - from 8 hours up to several days depending upon the particular MOF material and the reaction conditions, such as solvent, temperature, and concentration. Other synthesis methods that have been developed to address these issues include microwave synthesis, sonochemical synthesis, and mechanochemical synthesis. Reaction time can be reduced to minutes under the high energy conditions of a microwave synthesis method. A solvent free synthesis can be achieved using the mechanochemical synthesis. The sonochemical synthesis method provides an environmentally friendly process. However, all of these synthesis methods above are batch processes and meet several difficulties in scalability and controllability. Herein, we introduce a new synthesis method for MOF materials which utilizes a continuous flow reactor process. To reduce the reaction time and solvent usage, and to maintain a high degree of the crystallinity are the goals of this study. Cu-BTC (BTC = Benzene, -1,3,5-Tricarboxylate ) or HKUST-1 Metal Organic Framework material was chosen to demonstrate the continuous flow reactor process since it has a simple MOF structure, consisting of Cu⁺² ions and BTC linkers, and has been widely studied for catalyst applications. The continuous flow synthesis method shows successful results of reduced residence time as low as 5 minutes, high crystal quality obtained, size control, and high yield with recycle solvent cooperation. The particle size control of MOF material has been shown crucial contributions in absorption application and is accomplished by adjusting the system temperature, flow rate, and solvent composition ratio. A water/ethanol mixture as the solvent in Cu-BTC synthesis reaction is environmentally friendly and easy to separate from the MOF product. In addition, the composition of water in solvent is the most influential factor to the crystal growth rate specifically in crystallization rate and nucleation rate. BTC is used in excess to achieve a production yield of about 97% based on Cu ion consumption. Since the Cu-BTC particles have a low solubility in the ethanol/water solution, they can be obtained easily using a dispersion/sonication method. The BTC rich supernatant can be recycled for use in the feed stream to maintain a high production rate, which can be beneficial for quick economic production in laboratory, as well as, commercial scale applications. / Graduation date: 2012

Traditional gas separation technologies are thermally-driven and can have adverse environmental and economic impacts. Gas separation membrane processes are not thermally-driven and have low capital and operational costs which make them attractive alternatives to traditional technologies. Polymers are easily processed into large, defect-free membrane modules which have made polymeric membranes the industrial standard; however, polymers show separation efficiency-productivity trade-offs and are often not thermally or chemically robust. Molecular sieves, such as zeolites, have gas separation properties that exceed polymeric materials and are more thermally and chemically robust. Unfortunately, formation of large, defect-free molecular sieve membranes is not economically feasible. Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) combine the ease of processing polymeric materials with the superior transport properties of molecular sieves by dispersing molecular sieve particles in polymer matrices to enhance the performance of the polymers. MMMs with high molecular sieve loadings were made using polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and various molecular sieves. Successful formation of these MMMs required substantial modifications to low loading MMM formation techniques. The gas separation properties of these MMMs show significant improvements over PVAc properties, especially for high pressure mixed carbon dioxide-methane feeds that are of great industrial relevance.

Distillation and absorption columns offer significant energy demands for future development in the petrochemical and fine chemical industries. Membranes and adsorbents are attractive alternatives to these classical separation units due to lower operating cost and easy device fabrication; however, membranes possess an upper limit in separation performance that results in a trade-off between selectivity (purity) and permeability (productivity) for the target gas product, and adsorbents require the need to be water-resistant to natural gas streams in order to withstand typical gas compositions. Composite membranes, or mixed-matrix membranes, are an appealing alternative to pure polymeric membrane materials by use of a molecular sieve “filler” phase which has higher separation performance than the pure polymer. In this thesis, the structure-property-processing relationships for a new class of molecular sieves known as zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are investigated for their use as the filler phase in composite membranes or as adsorbents. These materials show robust chemical and thermal stability and are a promising class of molecular sieves for acid gas (CO₂/CH₄) separations. The synthesis of mixed-linker ZIFs is first investigated. It is shown that the organic linker composition in these materials is controllable without changing the crystal structure or significantly altering the thermal decomposition properties. There are observable changes in the adsorption properties, determined by nitrogen physisorption, that depend on the overall linker composition. The results suggest the proposed synthesis route facilitates a tunable process to control either the adsorption or diffusion properties depending on the linker composition. The structure-property-processing relationship for a specific ZIF, ZIF-8, is then investigated to determine the proper processing conditions necessary for fabricating defect-free composite membranes. The effect of ultrasonication shows an unexpected coarsening of ZIF-8 nanoparticles that grow with increased sonication time, but the structural integrity is shown to be maintained after sonication by using X-ray diffraction, Pair Distribution Function analysis, and nitrogen physisorption. The permeation properties of composite membranes revealed that intense ultrasonication is necessary to fabricate defect-free membranes for CO₂/CH₄ gas separations. Finally, the separation properties of mixed-linker ZIFs is investigated by using adsorption studies of CO₂ and CH₄ and using composite membranes with differing linker compositions. Adsorption properties of mixed-linker ZIFs reveal that these materials possess tunable surface properties, and a selectivity enhancement of six fold over ZIF-8 is observed with mixed-linker ZIFs without changing the crystal structure. Gas permeation studies of composite membranes reveal that the separation properties of mixed-linker ZIFs are different from their parent frameworks. By proper selection of mixed-linker ZIFs, there is an overall improvement of separation properties in the composite membranes when compared to ZIF-8.

In the current context of rapidly depleting petroleum resources and growing environmental concerns, it is important to develop materials to harvest and store energy from renewable and sustainable sources. Hydrogen has the potential to be an alternative energy source, since it has higher energy content than petroleum. However, since hydrogen has very low volumetric energy density, hence it is important to design nano porous materials which can efficiently store large volumes of hydrogen gas by adsorption. In this regard carbon nanotube and Metal Organic Framework (MOFs) based materials are worth studying. Ionic liquids (IL) are potential electrolytes that can improve energy storage capacity and safety in Li ion batteries. Therefore it is important to understand IL's thermodynamic and transport properties, especially when it is in contact with electrode surface and mixed with Li salt, as happens in the battery application. This dissertation presents computation and simulation based studies on: 1. Hydrogen storage in carbon nanotube scaffold. 2. Mechanical property and stability of various nanoporous Metal Organic Frameworks. 3. Thermodynamic and transport properties of [BMIM][BF4] ionic liquid in bulk, in Li Salt mixture, on graphite surface and under nanoconfinement. In the first study, we report the effects of carbon nanotube diameter, tube chirality, tube spacer distance, tube functionalization and presence of Li on hydrogen sorption capacity and thermodynamics at different temperature and pressure. In the second one, we observe high pressure induced structural transformation of 6 isoreticular MOFs: IRMOF-1. IRMOF-3, IRMOF-6, IRMOF-8, IRMOF-10 and IRMOF-14, explore the deformation mechanism and effect of Hydrogen inside crystal lattice. In the third study, we observe the equilibrium thermodynamic and transport properties of [BMIM][BF4] ionic liquid. The temperature dependence of ion diffusion, conductivity, dielectric constant, dipole relaxation time and viscosity have been observed and found similar behavior to those of supercooled liquid. The ion diffusion on graphite surfaces and under nanoconfinement was found to be higher compared to those in bulk.

Metallorganische Gerüstverbindungen (engl.: Metal-organic Framework, MOFs) haben sich in den letzten Jahren neben Zeolithen, Aktivkohlen und anderen als eine weitere Klasse poröser Materialien etabliert. Die Möglichkeit des individuellen Designs von Eigenschaften wie Porengröße und -geometrie, innerer Oberfläche und Porenvolumen, der Hydrophilie und Funktionalität machen diese Materialklasse zum Gegenstand der Forschung in den vielfältigsten Gebieten. Darüber hinaus besitzen sie unter porösen Materialien exklusiv die Eigenschaft der definierten strukturellen Flexibilität, welche in Kombination mit bereits genannten Eigenschaften eine weitere Vielzahl an neuen möglichen Anwendungen erahnen lässt. Die Faszination dieser strukturellen Flexibilität von MOFs sowie die Möglichkeit der Kontrolle dieser Eigenschaft sollten im Fokus der Betrachtung stehen. Zur Integration von Flexibilität in dreidimensionale Netzwerke wurde als Strategie der Einsatz von semi-flexiblen Linkermolekülen gewählt. Eine potentielle Molekülklasse für diese Art der Untersuchung stellen Triarylaminverbindungen dar, da sie trotz ihrer durchgängigen sp2-Hybridisierung über ein gewisses Maß an konformeller Flexibilität verfügen. So wurde über einen präparativ sehr guten Zugang der tetrafunktionelle H4benztb-Linker (Abbildung 1a) generiert. Durch die Kombination dieser Tetracarbonsäure mit Metall-Clustern unterschiedlicher Konnektivität resultierten acht strukturell unterschiedliche MOFs, wodurch an diesen Verbindungen Aussagen über Struktur-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen getroffen werden können. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit war die kostengünstige Darstellung komplexer nicht-kommerzieller Liganden und daraus resultierende hochporöse MOFs sowie Untersuchungen zu deren Stabilität und Speicherkapazität für verschiedene Gase im Hochdruckbereich. Durch die Reaktion des H4benztb-Liganden mit Zinknitrat unter variierenden Synthesebedingungen konnten drei Netzwerke unterschiedlich hoher Konnektivität erhalten werden. DUT 10(Zn) (Zn2(benztb)2(H2O)2), basierend auf dem vierfach verknüpfenden dimeren Schaufelrad-Konnektor, zeigt mit einem (4,4)-Netzwerk dabei den geringsten Verzweigungsgrad. Daraus resultierend zeigt dieses Material eine sehr große strukturelle Flexibilität beim Entfernen des in den Poren vorliegenden Lösungsmittels sowie bei der Adsorption von CO2 bei -78°C bis 1 bar. Wird die Netzwerkkonnektivität durch den Einsatz eines sechsfach verknüpfenden [Zn4O]6+-Clusters erhöht, so zeigt das resultierende (4,6)-Netzwerk von DUT-13 (Zn4O(benztb)3/2) eine größere strukturelle Stabilität beim Entfernen des Lösunsgmittels sowie bei der Adsorption von Gastmolekülen im überkritischen Zustand. Für gasförmige Adsorptive zeigt das Netzwerk bei der Adsorption ein hochgradig flexibles Verhalten. Im Fall von N2 konnte über in situ-PXRD-Physisorptionsmessungen eine bislang noch nie beobachtete kristallin-amorph-kristallin-amorph-Transformation während eines Physisorptionszyklus beobachtet werden, was zeigt, dass DUT-13 über ein sog. Formgedächtnis verfügt und nach einer Amorphisierung erneut in seine ursprüngliche kristalline Form zurückkehrt. Neben der Erhöhung der Netzwerkkonnektivität wurde auch der Einfluss der partiellen Substitution des semi-flexiblen H4benztb gegen rigide Linker auf die Netzwerkflexibilität untersucht. Durch die Copolymerisationsstrategie des H4benztb mit der starren 1,3,5-Benzentribenzoesäure (H3btb) konnte DUT 25 (Zn4O(btb)2/3(benztb)) erhalten werden. Aufgrund der geringen Erhöhung der Rigidität der Verbindung zeigt dieses (3,4,6)-Netzwerk keinerlei strukturelle Flexibilität während der Aktivierung, der Adsorption von verschiedenen Gasen sowie von Gastmolekülen aus der Flüssigphase. Man erhält ein starres Material mit einer spezifischen inneren Oberfläche (SSA) von 4670 m2g-1 und einem totalen Porenvolumen (VP) von 2.22 cm3g-1. Aufbauend auf den positiven Ergebnissen der Copolymerisationsstrategie von DUT-25, wurde versucht, diese auf weitere kostengünstige Linkersysteme zur Synthese hochporöser MOF-Verbindungen auszuweiten. Durch eine effiziente und günstige Synthese einer Tricarbonsäure auf Amidbasis, 4,4´,4´´-[1,3,5-Benzentriyltris(carbonylimino)]trisbenzoesäure (H3btctb), und deren Kombination mit der linearen 4,4´-Biphenyldicarbonsäure (H2bpdc) und Zinknitrat wurde ein neues mesoporöses Koordinationspolymer DUT-32 (Zn4O(btctb)4/3(bpdc)) mit hierarchischem Porensystem erhalten. Dieses System konnte nur unter Zuhilfenahme von überkritischem CO2 in einen porösen lösungsmittelfreien Zustand überführt werden. Hierbei konnten die gravierenden Einflüsse verschiedener Parameter während der Trocknung (Lösungsmittel, Verweilzeit) auf die porösen Eigenschaften des resultierenden Materials aufgezeigt werden. Der Austausch des Reaktionslösungsmittels gegen Ethanolabs. und anschließende überkritische Trocknung führte zu einem amorphen porösen Material mit einem Typ-IV-N2-Isothermenverlauf und einer daraus berechneten spezifischen Oberfläche von 840 m2g-1, einem Mikroporen- sowie einem totalen Porenvolumen von 0.36 bzw. 2.91 cm3g-1. Erfolgt die Trocknung aus einem Lösungsmittel mit möglichst geringen Wechselwirkungen mit dem Netzwerk (Aceton, Amylacetat), so zeigt das resultierende kristalline Material nach einer CO2-Austauschzeit von drei Tagen gänzlich andere texturelle Eigenschaften mit einem Typ-I-N2-Isothermenverlauf, einer spezifischen Oberfläche von 5080 m2g-1 sowie einem totalen Porenvolumen von 2.27 cm3g-1. Wird diese Verweil- und damit die Austauschzeit im flüssigen CO2 weiter auf sieben Tage erhöht, steigt auch die Qualität/Porosität des Materials und man erhält eine Verbindung mit der bislang höchsten beschriebenen spezifischen Oberfläche (SSA = 7192 m2g-1), extrem hohem spezifischen Porenvolumen (VP = 3.16 cm3g-1) und hervorragenden Eigenschaften für die Gasspeicherung.

The primary goal of this research concerns the synthesis and characterization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) grafted with pendant alkyl substituents to enhance stability and gas sorption properties for use in clean-energy related technologies. Initially, the focus of this work was on the synthesis and comparison of two isostructural MOFs built upon octahedral secondary building blocks; one with no alkyl substituents, and its dimethyl-substituted counterpart. The dimethyl-substituents are observed to enhance the stability of the framework, resulting in high Langmuir surface area (4859 m2 g-1) and hydrogen uptake capacity at 77 K and 1 bar (2.6 wt%). In the second section, the length of pendant alkoxy substituents in semi-flexible MOFs was evaluated through the synthesis and characterization of two isostructural MOFs, one with dimethoxy (PCN-38) and one with diethoxy pendant groups (PCN-39). While PCN-38 exhibited moderate surface area and hydrogen uptake capacities, PCN-39 underwent structural change upon activation leading to a redistribution of pore sizes and selective adsorption of hydrogen over larger gases. This structural transformation is believed to originate from optimal space filling of the pendant groups. In the third section, a series of NbO-type MOFs were synthesized with dimethoxy, diethoxy, dipropoxy, and dihexyloxy substituents and the relationship between chain length and framework stability identified. Increasing chain length was observed to increase moisture stability of the MOFs, resulting in a superhydrophobic material in the case of the dihexyloxy derivative. Thermal stability, however, decreased with increasing chain length, as evidenced from in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction measurements (PXRD). This is in contrast to data obtained from thermogravimetric analysis and shows that the standard use of thermogravimetric analysis, which measures combustion temperatures, may not always provide an accurate description of the thermal stability of MOFs. The role of pendant groups in gas adsorption processes was evaluated through identification of side chains and guest species in the pores of MOFs through in situ synchrotron PXRD measurements. In summary, three separate isostructural series of MOFs with various pendant groups have been discussed in this dissertation, with the roles of those pendant groups toward crystal structure, stability, and gas sorption properties analyzed.

The administration of enantiopure drugs brings advantages such as improved efficacy, more predictable pharmacokinetics and reduced toxicity from the point of view of the pharmaceutical area.[1] For this reason, a tremendous amount of supply and demand for enantiomeric pure compounds has been shown not only in market, but industry and academia.[2-4] According to the industry publication Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN) in 2014, 22 billion dollars were accounted for enantiopure form of drugs such as Sovaldi® (Sofosbuvir), Crestor® (Rosuvastatin), and Advair® (fluticasone/salmeterol). The fact that one enantiomer can be pharmacologically effective whereas the other enantiomer can be inactive or display non-desirable activity, chiral resolution and asymmetric synthesis research has broken out in recent years to obtain one desired stereoisomer. Enormous amounts of well-organized and rationalized research results for higher enantiomeric selectivity and efficiency has been reported with diverse chiral ligands and transition metals in academia.[5-10] However novelty-driven results from academic area does not meet the requirement in industry field for the practical issue, especially tedious separation process that require high cost and effort. In addition, methodologies developed with privileged chiral ligands and transition metal complexes leave a concern like undesired residue of trace amount of toxic metals in the products. In this dissertation, two types of heterogeneous asymmetric catalyst were investigated to find the alternative that accommodates industrial requirement to obtain enantiomeric pure compounds and novelty-driven academic demands. Firstly, constructions of rationally designed metal organic frameworks (MOFs) using chiral BINOL-derived phosphoric acid ligands were achieved. Overall, catalytic reactions with ocMOFs showed lower enatioselectivity than their homogeneous counterparts, but one of the MOFs, ocMOF-1, was found to exhibit improved enantioselectivity than its homogeneous counterpart in the context of transfer hydrogenation reaction of benzoxazine. Lower enatioselectivity with ocMOFs was rationalized by the chiral environment change by the formation of frameworks in a computational study. In addition, self-supported heterogenization of chiral BINOL-phosphoric acid was achieved by the Yamamoto coupling reaction, and by using catalytically active ocPOP-1 having nanoscopic channels, enantioselectivity was obtained up to 48% in transfer hydrogenation of N-PMP ketimine. Although extension of substituent groups at 3, 3' positions was expected to bring enhanced steric hindrance and to influence to enantioselectivity positively, lack of spatially well-defined interactions induced by this chiral environment change might have lowered the enantiomeric selectivity of the catalytic reaction using ocPOP-1 than its counterpart.