Growth-modulating agents for the synthesis of Al-MOF-type materials based on assembled 1D structural subdomains

Abstract

Novel aluminium MOF-type materials structured by 1D subdomains, such as organic–inorganic nanoribbons, were synthesized by modifying the conditions of solvothermal synthesis and the nature of the solvents in the presence of aryl monocarboxylate linkers with long alkyl chains, which acted as growth-modulating agents. Specifically, three different families of materials were prepared with various morphological characteristics: (i) isoreticular MIL-53(Al)-type materials, (ii) mesoscopic metalorganic structures and (iii) lamellar aluminium MOFs. The length of the alkyl chain in the aryl linker and the hydrophobic/hydrophilic nature of the solvothermal synthesis media determined the structuration level that was achieved. The derived Al-MOFs are active and stable catalysts for the synthesis of fine chemicals. This was illustrated by the efficient synthesis of 2,3-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethyl-1H-1,5-benzodiazepine.