In the domain of health, one important challenge is the efficient delivery of drugs in the body using non-toxic nanocarriers. Most of the existing carrier materials show poor drug loading (usually less than 5 wt% of the transported drug versus the carrier material) and/or rapid release of the proportion of the drug that is simply adsorbed (or anchored) at the external surface of the nanocarrier. In this context, porous hybrid solids, with the ability to tune their structures and porosities for better drug interactions and high loadings, are well suited to serve as nanocarriers for delivery and imaging applications. Here we show that specific non-toxic porous iron(III)-based metal-organic frameworks with engineered cores and surfaces, as well as imaging properties, function as superior nanocarriers for efficient controlled delivery of challenging antitumoural and retroviral drugs (that is, busulfan, azidothymidine triphosphate, doxorubicin or cidofovir) against cancer and AIDS. In addition to their high loadings, they also potentially associate therapeutics and diagnostics, thus opening the way for theranostics, or personalized patient treatments.

Mesoporous MOFs MIL-100 and MIL-101 adsorb huge amounts of CO2 and CH4. Characterization was performed using both manometry and gravimetry in different laboratories for isotherms coupled with microcalorimetry and FTIR to specify the gas-solid interactions. In particular, the uptake of carbon dioxide in MIL-101 has been shown to occur with a record capacity of 40 mmol g(-1) or 390 cm3STP cm(-3) at 5 MPa and 303 K.

Recent ideas concerning site‐selective functionalization of chromium terephtha‐late MIL‐101 are discussed, focusing on the utilization of unsaturated Cr(III) sites (see image). Recent advances in synthesis, selective surface functionalization, outstanding sorption properties, encapsulation of nanoobjects, and catalytic applications in MIL‐101 are also discussed.