Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are hybrid organic/inorganic materials, which exhibit microporosity. These microporous properties allow for MOFs to have applications in various fields such as gas storage and drug delivery due to their high surface areas and large pore volumes. The encapsulation of small molecules in metal organic frameworks is of particular interest. This arises as a result of the versatile customizability of their pore size and framework type by employing various reaction conditions in conjunction with ligands of different topologies1. The goal of the project is to synthesize azobenzene dicarboxylic acid derivatives where the carboxylic acid moieties positions in the benzene rings are varied from: para, ortho, and meta2. When coordinated to metal centers, literature has shown that the different topologies of the ligand systems allow for the preparation of frameworks with different structural features3. The MOFs will be synthesized by screening through various synthesis conditions to determine the highest product yields and structural features. MOF synthesis conditions will include varying solvent ratios, temperature, and pH among others.
1. Stock, N.; Biswas, S. Chem. Rev. 2011, 112, 933‰ÛÒ969.
2. Qiu, M. Y.; Zhang, J. C.; Shi, W. Y.; Jia, Q. C.; Nu, Y. S. Asian J. Chem.åÊ åÊ åÊ 2012, 24 (5),åÊ2295‰ÛÒ2297.
3. Chen, T.-H.; Popov, I.; Kaveevivitchai, W.; Miljanic, O. S. Chem. Mater. 2014, 26,4322‰ÛÒ4325.
