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Postsynthetic ion exchange of [Co2(μ-Cl)2(btta)] (MAF-X27-Cl, H2bbta =1H,5H-benzo(1,2-d:4,5-d')bistriazole) possessing open metal sites on its pore surface yields a material [Co2(μ-OH)2(bbta)] (MAF-X27-OH) functionalized by both open metal sites and hydroxide ligands, giving drastically improved electrocatalytic activities for the oxygen evolution reaction (an overpotential of 292 mV at 10.0 mA cm(-2) in 1.0 M KOH solution). Isotope tracing experiments further confirm that the hydroxide ligands are involved in the OER process to provide a low-energy intraframework coupling pathway.

X-Ray single-crystal diffraction has been the most straightforward and important technique in structural determination of crystalline materials for understanding their structure-property relationships. This powerful tool can be used to directly visualize the precise and detailed structural information of porous coordination polymers or metal-organic frameworks at different states, which are unique for their flexible host frameworks compared with conventional adsorbents. With a series of selected recent examples, this review gives a brief overview of single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies and single-crystal to single-crystal transformations of porous coordination polymers under various chemical and physical stimuli such as solvent and gas sorption/desorption/exchange, chemical reaction and temperature change.

Conventional adsorbents preferentially adsorb the small, high-polarity, and unsaturated 1,3-butadiene molecule over the other C hydrocarbons from which it must be separated. We show from single-crystal x-ray diffraction and computational simulation that a hydrophilic metal-organic framework, [Zn(btm)], where Hbtm is bis(5-methyl-1-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)methane, has quasi-discrete pores that can induce conformational changes in the flexible guest molecules, weakening 1,3-butadiene adsorption through a large bending energy penalty. In a breakthrough operation at ambient temperature and pressure, this guest conformation-controlling adsorbent eluted 1,3-butadiene first, then butane, butene, and isobutene. Thus, 1,3-butadiene can be efficiently purified (≥99.5%) while avoiding high-temperature conditions that can lead to its undesirable polymerization.