The electrocatalytic reduction of CO has been investigated using four Cu-based metal-organic porous materials supported on gas diffusion electrodes, namely, (1) HKUST-1 metal-organic framework (MOF), [Cu (μ -C H O ) ] ; (2) CuAdeAce MOF, [Cu (μ -C H N ) ] ; (3) CuDTA mesoporous metal-organic aerogel (MOA), [Cu(μ-C H N S )] ; and (4) CuZnDTA MOA, [Cu Zn (μ-C H N S )] . The electrodes show relatively high surface areas, accessibilities, and exposure of the Cu catalytic centers as well as favorable electrocatalytic CO reduction performance, that is, they have a high efficiency for the production of methanol and ethanol in the liquid phase. The maximum cumulative Faradaic efficiencies for CO conversion at HKUST-1-, CuAdeAce-, CuDTA-, and CuZnDTA-based electrodes are 15.9, 1.2, 6, and 9.9 %, respectively, at a current density of 10 mA cm , an electrolyte-flow/area ratio of 3 mL min cm , and a gas-flow/area ratio of 20 mL min cm . We can correlate these observations with the structural features of the electrodes. Furthermore, HKUST-1- and CuZnDTA-based electrodes show stable electrocatalytic performance for 17 and 12 h, respectively.

The development of intracrystalline mesoporosity within zeolites has been a long-standing goal in catalysis as it greatly contributes to alleviating the diffusion limitations of these widely used microporous materials. The combination of in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy enabled the first in situ observation of the development of intracrystalline mesoporosity in zeolites and provided structural and kinetic information on the changes produced in zeolites to accommodate the mesoporosity. The interpretation of the time-resolved diffractograms together with computational simulations evidenced the formation of short-range hexagonally ordered mesoporosity within the zeolite framework, and the in situ electron microscopy studies allowed the direct observation of structural changes in the zeolite during the process. The evidence for the templating and protective role of the surfactant and the rearrangement of the zeolite crystal to accommodate intracrystalline mesoporosity opens new and exciting opportunities for the production of tailored hierarchical zeolites.

A coordination polymer is fully exfoliated by solvent-assisted interaction only. The soft-delamination process results from the structure of the starting material, which shows a layered structure with weak layer-to-layer interactions and cavities with the ability to locate several solvents in an unselective way. These results represent a significant step forward towards the production of structurally designed one-molecule thick 2D materials with tailored physico-chemical properties.

The reaction of M(ox) x 2H(2)O (M = Co(II), Ni(II)) or K(2)(Cu(ox)(2)) x 2H(2)O (ox = oxalate dianion) with n-ampy (n = 2, 3, 4; n-ampy = n-aminopyridine) and potassium oxalate monohydrate yields one-dimensional oxalato-bridged metal(II) complexes which have been characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, variable-temperature magnetic measurements, and X-ray diffraction methods. The complexes M(mu-ox)(2-ampy)(2) (M = Co (1), Ni (2), Cu (3)) are isomorphous and crystallize in the monoclinic space group C2/c (No. 15), Z = 4, with unit cell parameters for 1 of a = 13.885(2) A, b = 11.010(2) A, c = 8.755(1) A, and beta = 94.21(2) degrees. The compounds M(mu-ox)(3-ampy)(2).1.5H(2)O (M = Co (4), Ni (5), Cu (6)) are also isomorphous and crystallize in the orthorhombic space group Pcnn (No. 52), Z = 8, with unit cell parameters for 6 of a = 12.387(1), b = 12.935(3), and c = 18.632(2) A. Compound Co(mu-ox)(4-ampy)(2) (7) crystallizes in the space group C2/c (No. 15), Z = 4, with unit cell parameters of a = 16.478(3) A, b = 5.484(1) A, c = 16.592(2) A, and beta = 117.76(1) degrees. Complexes M(mu-ox)(4-ampy)(2) (M = Ni (8), Cu (9)) crystallize in the orthorhombic space group Fddd (No. 70), Z = 8, with unit cell parameters for 8 of a = 5.342(1), b = 17.078(3), and c = 29.469(4) A. All compounds are comprised of one-dimensional chains in which M(n-ampy)(2)(2+) units are sequentially bridged by bis-bidentate oxalato ligands with M.M intrachain distances in the range of 5.34-5.66 A. In all cases, the metal atoms are six-coordinated to four oxygen atoms, belonging to two bridging oxalato ligands, and the endo-cyclic nitrogen atoms, from two n-ampy ligands, building distorted octahedral surroundings. The aromatic bases are bound to the metal atom in cis (1-6) or trans (7-9) positions. Magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range of 2-300 K show the occurrence of antiferromagnetic intrachain interactions except for the compound 3 in which a weak ferromagnetic coupling is observed. Compound 7 shows spontaneous magnetization below 8 K, which corresponds to the presence of spin canted antiferromagnetism.