Yolk–shell
composites offer a promising platform for integrating
cores into hollow shells to create unique structures and properties.
However, the concomitant functionality and tunability of yolk–shell
nanocomposites is still a great challenge but highly desirable. Herein,
we demonstrate a rational design for the fabrication of yolk–shell-structured
covalent organic framework (COF)@metal–organic framework (MOF)
(YS-COF@MOF) nanocomposites with COF as the external shell and MOF
as the inner yolk. Series of the YS-COF@MOF composites with different
MOF cores and COF shells were readily synthesized via a template-free
solvothermal method. Control experiments showed that the formation
of the hollow cavity between the core and the shell originated from
the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation and the simultaneous shrinkage
of the shell under the pyrrolidine-catalyzed conditions. The resultant
YS-COF@MOF merges the inherent structure tunability and functionality
of both COFs and MOFs. The functions of YS-COF@MOF can be regulated
and optimized by judicious selections of metal ions and organic building
blocks. Representative YS-TpPa@UiO-66-(COOH)2 with spatially
distributed acidic and basic sites exhibited synergistically enhanced
catalytic activity in one-pot deacetalization–Knoevenagel cascade
reactions.