Mg-MOF-74 crystals were successfully prepared in 1 h by a sonochemical method (Mg-MOF-74(S)) after triethylamine (TEA) was added as a deprotonating agent. Mg-MOF-74(S) (1640 m 2 g À1 BET surface area) displayed similar textural properties to those of a high-quality MOF sample synthesized in 24 h by the solvothermal method (Mg-MOF-74(C), 1525 m 2 g À1 ). However, mesopores were formed, probably due to the competitive binding of TEA to Mg 2+ ions, and the average particle size of the former (ca. 0.6 mm) was significantly smaller than that of the latter (ca. 14 mm). The H 2 O adsorption capacity was 593 mL g À1 at 298 K for Mg-MOF-74(S), displaying higher hydrophilicity than Zeolite 13X. The adsorption isotherms of Mg-MOF-74(S) for CO 2 showed high adsorption capacity (350 mg g À1 at 298 K) and high isosteric heats of adsorption for CO 2 (42 to 22 kJ mol À1 ). The breakthrough experiment confirmed excellent selectivity to CO 2 over N 2 at ambient conditions (saturation capacity of ca. 179 mg g À1 ). Ten consecutive adsorption-desorption cycles at 298 K established no deterioration of the adsorption capacity, which showed reversible adsorbent regeneration at 323 K under helium flow for a total duration of 1400 min. Mg-MOF-74(S) also demonstrated excellent catalytic performance in cycloaddition of CO 2 to styrene oxide under relatively mild reaction conditions (2.0 MPa, 373 K) with close to 100% selectivity to carbonate, which was confirmed by GC-MS, 1 H-NMR, and FT-IR. Mg-MOF-74(S) could be reused 3 times without losing catalytic activity and with no structural deterioration.

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High quality MOF-177 crystals in the size range of 5-20 microm were successfully synthesized via a sonochemical route in a substantially reduced synthesis time (40 min) in the presence of low-cost NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) as a solvent. Microwave heating in NMP also produced MOF-177 under similar conditions (35 min, 5-50 microm) but exhibited inferior crystallinity. In comparison, a conventional solvothermal route in DEF (diethylformamide) took 48 h to produce MOF-177 crystals 0.5-1.5 mm in size. The BET surface areas of the MOF-177 samples decreased in the order of sonochemical (4898 m(2) g(-1)) > conventional (4833 m(2) g(-1)) > microwave route (4197 m(2) g(-1)). In line with this trend, MOF-177 prepared via the sonochemical route resulted in the highest CO(2) adsorption capacity, 1315 mg g(-1) at 30 bar and 298 K. The product yield of MOF-177 synthesized via the sonochemical route was 95.6%, and was significantly higher than the product yields of other methods.

A manganese(II) acetylacetonate complex has been immobilized to the metal-organic framework IRMOF-3 through a one-step post-synthetic route for the first time, providing an effective and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for epoxidation of alkenes.

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