The preparation of novel efficient catalysts—that
could
be applicable in industrially important chemical processes—has
attracted great interest. Small subnanometer metal clusters can exhibit
outstanding catalytic capabilities, and thus, research efforts have
been devoted, recently, to synthesize novel catalysts bearing such
active sites. Here, we report the gram-scale preparation of Ag
2
0
subnanometer clusters
within the channels of a highly crystalline three-dimensional anionic
metal–organic framework, with the formula [Ag
2
0
]@Ag
I
2
Na
I
2
{Ni
II
4
[Cu
II
2
(Me
3
mpba)
2
]
3
}·48H
2
O [Me
3
mpba
4–
=
N,N
′-2,4,6-trimethyl-1,3-phenylenebis(oxamate)]. The resulting
crystalline solid catalyst—fully characterized with the help
of single-crystal X-ray diffraction—exhibits high catalytic
activity for the catalytic Buchner ring expansion reaction.