Asymmetric Catalysis with Chiral Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks

This paper provides a brief overview of recent progress in the design and synthesis of chiral metal-organic frameworks (CMOFs) and their applications in heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis. Catalytically active CMOFs can be synthesized using two distinct strategies, either by post-synthetic activation of pre-synthesized porous MOFs or by directly linking well-designed catalytically competent bridging ligands with metal ion or metal cluster nodes. Heterogeneous asymmetric catalysis with very high activity and enantioselectivity has been achieved with CMOFs. The intrinsic tunability of CMOFs promises to lead to the design and synthesis of a variety of practically useful heterogeneous asymmetric catalysts for many organic transformations.