Acetic acid, an alternative
green solvent, was utilized for the
solvothermal synthesis of four 2D materials of composition [Zr2O2(OAc)2(BDC-F)], [Zr2O2(OAc)2(BDC-F4)], [Zr2O2(OAc)2(BDC)], and [Zr2O2(OAc)2(NDC)] (BDC, terephthalate; BDC-F, 2-fluoroterephthalate;
BDC-F4, tetrafluoroterephthalate; NDC, 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylate).
The first three compounds were subsequently reacted with terephthalic
acid in solid-state reactions to form porous MIL-140A-type metal–organic
frameworks and mixed-linker derivatives ([ZrO(BDC)1–x
(BDC-Y)
x
], x = 0–0.18, Y = F, F4). The reaction kinetics of
the formation of MIL-140A were investigated with the aid of time-resolved
synchrotron and temperature-resolved in-house X-ray powder diffraction
experiments. Thorough compositional analyses and solid-state NMR spectroscopic
experiments were used to assess the crystallographic ordering of the
different linker molecules. Additionally, acetic acid-based routes
for the direct synthesis of MIL-140A-NO2 and a novel MIL-140A-(CH3)2 derivative were discovered.