Green Synthesis of Reticular Materials

Abstract

To help ensure a prosperous future on Earth for coming generations, academia and industry need to transform the way they plan and carry out the synthesis of novel materials to make them more environmentally sustainable. In particular, the field of reticular materials, i.e., metal‐organic frameworks, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks, has great potential to outperform other materials and revolutionize various fields of applications. This review highlights several key aspects from the choice of their starting materials, solvents and synthetic methodologies that fall under the umbrella of the Green Chemistry principles, and incorporates a Circular Economy perspective by providing relevant strategies such as reuse, regeneration, or recycling to maximize the value of the Earth's available resources. Moreover, it will shed light on the life cycle assessment results of selected reticular materials and consider how constraints imposed by Green Chemistry principles, life cycle assessment metrics, and circular patterns will shape the future rational sustainable design and discovery of reticular materials.

Reticular materials for wastewater treatment

“…In the context of nuclear effluents, which are often acidic with a low pH of 1–4, imine-linked COFs are sensitive to hydrolysis in acidic, basic, or redox agents. 65…”

Facile mechanochemical synthesis of MIL-53 and its isoreticular analogues with a glance at reaction reversibility

“…Over the last decades mechanochemistry has resurged as an alternative and green synthetic strategy using commercially available mills to build an array of MOFs with advantageous features of solvent volume reduction, high reaction yield, and easiness to scale-up. 14,15 Based on our long-standing interest in mechanochemistry [16][17][18] and inspired by the preparation of [Al(OH)(fum)] (fum = fumarate) through a twin-screw extrusion method reported by James et al, 19 herein we report that a family of MIL-53 type materials has been successfully built by mechanochemical synthesis, more specifically a shaker-type ball milling, under ambient conditions. Not only is the developed synthetic strategy compatible with ligand variation, but it also allows us to produce gallium (Ga)-and indium (In)-based MOFs in addition to the Al congener.…”