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.