Conversion of azide to primary amine via Staudinger reaction in metal-organic frameworks

Facile conversion of azide to primary amine in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) was accomplished by Staudinger reduction. After the reaction, MOFs retained high crystallinity confirmed by X-ray diffraction patterns, meaning a high usability of this method for post-synthetic modification of MOFs. Bulky phosphine groups provided surface-selective modification of MOFs via a reaction between resulting amine groups of MOF and activated ester with fluorescein, illustrated by confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) observation. This method opens up new possibilities for the preparation of MOFs having core-shell structures.