Aluminum metal-organic framework as a new host for preparation of encapsulated metal complex catalysts

A facile strategy for encapsulation of metal complex guests into MOFs was proposed. This strategy involves pre-adsorbing metal salt on MOF, and then coordinating the metal ions with the organic ligand, as exemplified by encapsulation of tris(1,10-phenanthroline) Cu(II) complexes (CuPhen) in MIL-100(Al) (denoted as CuPhen/MIL). CuPhen encapsulated in MIL-100(Al) showed higher catalytic activity than the neat CuPhen and CuPhen encapsulated in zeolite-Y. The prepared CuPhen/MIL catalyst was stable and could be reused at least three times without significant loss in activity. This work is beneficial for the host-guest chemistry study and the development of new heterogeneous catalysts. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.