Lewis basic DABCO-functionalized 3D-like metal-organic framework, Zn-MOF, catalyzes nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde with nitroalkanes in a size-dependent manner. Small nitroalkanes give rise to higher conversion than larger ones. This MOF-based heterogeneous catalyst is very robust and can be recycled several times without losing its activity.

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A Zn-MOF assembled from a new C(2h)-symmetric terphenyl dicarboxylate and DABCO was prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography and gas sorption analysis: a preferential sorption of CO(2) over N(2) and H(2) was observed with an exceptionally high CO(2) adsorption enthalpy.

The reaction between 1,3,5-benzenetribenzoic acid (H 3 BTB) and In(NO 3 ) 3 hydrate in diethylformamide yielded a new In III -metal-organic framework, [(CH 3 CH 2 ) 2 NH 2 ] 3 [In 3 (BTB) 4 ]•10DEF•14H 2 O (I). The countercation and solvent-free doubly interpenetrated I potentially contains 71.0% of solvent accessible void. Although the framework of I was not stable enough to maintain its original structure when the solvent molecules were removed, the as-prepared I was found to be a very good sorbent for acridine orange hydrochloride, a large Reichardt's dye, and hydrophobic iodine molecule in solution. The as-prepared I exhibited increased uptake amount in the order of Reichardt's dye > acridine orange hydrochloride > iodine. The largest uptake of the bulky Reichardt's dye by I could be attributed to the optimized structural fitting of Reichardt's dye into the large threedimensional void space of I. The structure of Reichardt's dye-encapsulated I_RD was unambiguously revealed by X-ray crystallography for the first time.

Topologically interesting new In-MOFs were prepared by using a 4,4 0 -biphenyldicarboxylate bridging ligand and In(NO 3 ) 3 $xH 2 O. Two isomeric forms of In-MOFs were independently prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, and gas sorption analysis. By simply using different solvents, N,Ndimethylformamide or N,N-diethylformamide, we obtained two new In-MOFs. Despite the same coordination mode of an In III node, these two anionic MOFs adopted distinct crystal structures. One isomer (1) showed an overall 4-fold interpenetrated uninodal 4-connected diamond network with Z t ¼ 1 and Z n ¼ 2 (class IIa). The other (2) showed a 4-fold interpenetrated uninodal 4-connected diamond network with Z t ¼ 2 and Z n ¼ 2 (class IIIa). Thus, despite the same metal-ligand connectivity, 1 and 2 are unusual isomeric MOFs based on the ways of catenation. This may be accounted for by the flexible bonding nature of the In-centered pseudotetrahedral motif in the presence of counter-cations with different dimensions. The In-MOFs 1 and 2 exhibited different counter ion distributions and porosity properties. Interestingly, the In-MOF 1 showed a reversible framework transformation from crystalline form / amorphized form (after activation) / crystalline state (after resolvation). This reversible transformation can also be explained by the flexible bonding nature of the In III ion with four h 2coordinated 4,4 0 -BPDC ligands.