Synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with microwave or ultrasound: Rapid reaction, phase-selectivity, and size reduction

Microwave (MW) and ultrasonic (US) irradiation are the most simple, inexpensive, and efficient nonconventional heating methods available in applied chemistry. Both techniques are well established in the field of organic transformations/syntheses, even though the utilization of alternative methods in the synthesis of emerging materials, including inorganic nanomaterials, nanoporous materials, and hybrid materials, is rapidly materializing. The rapidly growing number of publications regarding the synthesis of such materials via MW and US irradiation clearly suggests that these techniques will play a role in materials chemistry. In this review, we have given an overview of the synthesis of porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) materials with MW and US irradiation. MOFs are very interesting materials due to their various potential applications. This review is not meant to serve as a thorough overview of MW- or US-assisted synthesis of MOFs, but is meant to describe the degree of acceleration, phase-selective crystallization, and crystal size reduction in MOF synthesis. Considering these particular aspects of MOF synthesis, the advantages of MW or US irradiation compared with conventional heating have been expounded in detail. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.