Building Metal-Organic Frameworks: One Cavity at a Time

Speaker: Dr. Hongcai "Joe" Zhou, Texas A&M University

Topic: "Building Metal-Organic Frameworks: One Cavity at a Time"

Abstract:

In this presentation, I will start with a single cavity (the enclosure of a Metal-Organic Polyhedron or MOP), and show that the "bridging angle" of a ligand determines the geometry of the cavity. I will demonstrate that bridging-ligand substitution reaction can be generally applied in both MOP and MOF preparation. From there, I'll show that single cavities can be assembled into chains and 2D or 3D networks of cavities either by step-wise assembly or ligand design and extension. These new synthetic methods have led to novel MOFs such as "mesh-adjustable molecular sieves" and "elastic singlemolecule traps" for carbon capture. Porous materials with exceptionally high surface area or methane storage capacity will be presented. Additionally, a biomimetic MOF that exhibits enzymatic functions will be discussed.

http://www.chem.tamu.edu/faculty/faculty_detail.php?ID=1888

http://www.chem.tamu.edu/rgroup/zhou/

The seminar will be web cast.