A porous two-dimensional (2D) metal–organic framework (MOF), namely, [Cd­(PBA)­(DMF)]·DMF (Cd-PBA), has been solvothermally synthesized by the reaction of 5-(4-pyridin-3-yl-benzoylamino)-isophthalic acid ligand (H2PBA) and Cd­(II) ions. Structural analysis shows that Cd-PBA possesses 2D (3,6)-connected kgd net topology with the Schläfli symbol of (43)2(46.66.83) and exhibits two distinct types of one-dimensional opening channels along a- and c-axes. The incorporation of Cd metal centers and −NH groups of amides endows Cd-PBA rich open metal sites and Lewis basic sites, which are applied as an efficient catalyst for the important Knoevenagel condensation and cyanosilylation of aldehyde reactions. This Cd-PBA presents highly efficient catalytic activity and recyclability for both Knoevenagel condensation reaction and cyanosilylation of various aldehydes with trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN). The excellent catalytic activity can be maintained at least four cycles without loss of obvious catalytic activity. These results indicate Cd-PBA can serve as a promising heterogeneous catalyst toward C–C bond formation due to the stability and high catalytic activity.

By application of newly designed ligand 5-(3-(pyridin-3-yl)benzamido)isophthalic acid (HPBI) to react with Mn(NO) under solvothermal conditions, a 2-fold interpenetrated Mn-based metal-organic framework (Mn-PBI) with rutile-type topology has been obtained. When treated as a precursor by pyrolysis of Mn-PBI at 500 °C, mesoporous MnO/C-N nanostructures were prepared and treated as an lithium-ion battery anode. The MnO/C-N manifests good capacity of approximately 1085 mAh g after 100 cycles together with superior cyclic stability and remarkable rate capacity, which is supposed to benefit from a large accessible specific area and unique nanostructures. The remarkable performances suggest promising application as an advanced anode material.

A three-dimensional (3D) metal–organic framework (MOF), namely, {[Mn4(PBA)4(H2O)6·5H2O]} n (Mn-PBA), has been successfully constructed from 5-(4-pyridin-3-yl-benzoylamino)-isophthalic acid ligand (H2PBA) and Mn­(II) ions under solvothermal condition. Structural analysis reveals that there exist 1D hexagonal channels in the 3D structure along the b-axis. Mesoporous Mn3O4/C composites were fabricated by the direct thermolysis of Mn-PBA at 500 °C under an air atmosphere. When tested as a lithium-ion battery anode material, the Mn3O4/C electrode delivers an excellent capacity of 1032 mAh g–1 at 200 mA g–1 after 500 cycles along with remarkable rate capacity, which is supposed to benefit from the unique microspheres characteristic and large accessible specific area. Owing to the good cycling stability and high capacity, the Mn3O4/C electrode can be regarded as a promising anode material for LIBs.

Porous carbon material was synthesized by calcination of a Cd-MOF template. When evaluated as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the carbon electrode shows a high reversible discharge capacity.