Design and synthesis of novel Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs): Pathways for encapsulation and storage applications

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are an intriguing new class of inorganic - organic hybrid materials. MOFs are created from metal ions or clusters bridged by polytopic organic linkers. Owing to their crystalline structures, high porosity and stability, MOFs have been used for a range of applications including gas separation, storage, drug delivery, chemical sensing, catalysis, biomedical applications, and many more. Further, their structures and properties can be tuned by varying the metal center or the organic linker. In this work, new metal organic frameworks were synthesized via the invention of new bridging linkers. The effect of different synthesis conditions on the resultant structure and properties was studied. The application of these new MOFs as well as known MOFs for gas capture, storage, and encapsulation of other chemical species was also studied. A part of this dissertation includes an insightful analysis on the discoloration of the color pigment ultramarine blue, which consists of a sulfur radical chromophore trapped inside a crystalline aluminosilicate zeotype. Many MOFs have porous frameworks and similar structures to zeolites. Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs), a sub class of MOFs, were studied as a host for colored sulfur species, which can be applied as a novel synthetic pigment.