Metal–organic
frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous materials
with immense chemical tunability derived from their organic and inorganic
building blocks. Presynthetic approaches have been used to construct
tailor-made MOFs, but with a rather restricted functional group scope
limited by the typical MOF solvothermal synthesis conditions. Postsynthetic
modification (PSM) of MOFs has matured into an alternative strategy
to broaden the functional group scope of MOFs. PSM has many incarnations,
but two main avenues include (1) covalent PSM, in which the organic
linkers of the MOF are modified with a reagent resulting in new functional
groups, and (2) coordinative PSM, where organic molecules containing
metal ligating groups are introduced onto the inorganic secondary
building units (SBUs) of the MOF. These methods have evolved from
simple efforts to modifying MOFs to demonstrate proof-of-concept,
to becoming key synthetic tools for advancing MOFs for a range of
emerging applications, including selective gas sorption, catalysis,
and drug delivery. Moreover, both covalent and coordinative PSM have
been used to create hierarchal MOFs, MOF-based porous liquids, and
other unusual MOF materials. This Outlook highlights recent reports
that have extended the scope of PSM in MOFs, some seminal reports
that have contributed to the advancement of PSM in MOFs, and our view
on future directions of the field.