A new aluminium metal-organic framework (MOF), based on the short aliphatic linker molecule mesaconic acid (H Mes; methylfumaric acid) is reported. Al-MIL-68-Mes with composition [Al(OH)(O C-C H -CO )]⋅n H O is obtained after short reaction times of 45 minutes under mild, aqueous synthesis conditions (95 °C). It exhibits a kagome-like framework structure with large hexagonal, and small trigonal channels (diameters of ≈6 and ≈2 Å, respectively) and a specific surface area of S ≈1040 m g (V =0.42 cm g ). A sigmoidal vapour sorption isotherm for water, and uptakes of water and methanol above 30 wt. % were observed. Al-MIL-68-Mes is stable against water ad-/desorption and its thermal stability is 350 °C in air. The proton conductivity for the hydrated MOF showed values up to 1.1×10 S cm at 130 °C and 100 % relative humidity, which exceeds the values observed for the non-hydrated compound by up to four orders of magnitude. Using synchrotron radiation the crystallisation of the MOF by in situ PXRD was also studied at temperatures from 80 to 100 °C. Kinetic evaluation revealed that the induction periods and crystallization times vary depending on the synthesis batch, but the rate limiting steps are consistently observed.