Post-synthetic metalation (PSMet) offers expansive scope for a targeted approach to tailoring the properties of MOFs. Numerous methods for carrying-out PSMet chemistry have been reported, however, these can be categorized into three general strategies: (a) addition to coordinating groups; (b) counter-ion exchange in charged frameworks; or, (c) host-guest encapsulation of metal-containing entities within the pores of the framework. PSMet has been applied to enhance the performance characteristics of parent MOFs for gas storage and separation, and catalysis. Notably, PSMet is a prominent strategy in the field of MOF catalysis as it offers a route to design size-selective catalysts, based on the premise of reticular chemistry in MOFs and the ability to incorporate a range of catalytically-active metal centres. Other applications for materials produced via or utilising PSMet strategies include enhancing gas storage or molecular separations, the triggered release of drugs, sensing and tunable light emission for luminescent materials. This review surveys seminal examples of PSMet to highlight the broad scope of this technique for enhancing the performance characteristics of MOFs and to demonstrate how the PSMet concept can be developed for future applications.

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A new mesoporous metal-organic framework (MOF; DUT-60) was conceptually designed in silico using Zn O nodes, ditopic and tritopic linkers to explore the stability limits of framework architectures with ultrahigh porosity. The robust ith-d topology of DUT-60 provides an average bulk and shear modulus (4.97 GPa and 0.50 GPa, respectively) for this ultra-porous framework, a key prerequisite to suppress pore collapse during desolvation. Subsequently, a cluster precursor approach, resulting in minimal side product formation in the solvothermal synthesis, was used to produce DUT-60, a new crystalline framework with the highest recorded accessible pore volume (5.02 cm g ) surpassing all known crystalline framework materials.

Highly flexible metal-organic framework DUT-49 shows an unexpected phenomenon whereby, as the material fills with gas, it contracts suddenly and releases a significant fraction of the adsorbed methane. This negative gas adsorption process is extremely rare and has not been observed in porous materials previously. Coudert and colleagues reveal the microscopic mechanism behind this non-conventional behavior, highlighting its roots in mechanics and thermodynamics by using multiscale computer simulations.