The last lecture focused on a class of compounds currently under intense study, coordination polymers or MOFs (Metal Organic Frameworks). These are three-dimensional porous materials obtained by reacting metal ions with organic ligands (terephthalic acid, for example). These materials have been developed for applications such as molecular adsorption and separation, gas adsorption and, more recently, catalysis.
This lecture presents recent developments in the preparation of MOFs from organic building blocks: amino acids, peptides, sugars, nucleic bases and hemes. These bio-hybrid systems are being studied for their catalytic properties, in particular their selectivity in molecule recognition and catalysis (enantioselectivity). Even more recently, MOFs have been exploited in catalytic reactions involving water oxidation,CO2 photoreduction and proton-to-hydrogen photoreduction.
