Our serie of Scientific Seminars continues with the next talk:
Title: Reticulating Complexity: Challenges and Opportunities in Multimetal Metal–Organic Frameworks
Author: Felipe Gándara, Interdisciplinary studies based on nanoscopic systems (ESISNA) group, Supramolecular, Polymeric and Reticular Materials, ICMM-CSIC
Where: Sala de Seminarios, ICMM-CSIC
When: 29th October, 12h
Abstract: Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a versatile class of crystalline materials constructed from metal ions or clusters connected by organic linkers. Their modular nature provides remarkable opportunities to design structures with controlled architectures and tailored properties. Over the past decades, advances in reticular chemistry have enabled the synthesis of an extraordinary diversity of frameworks. However, introducing increasing levels of chemical complexity while maintaining structural control remains a major challenge.
One particularly promising approach involves the incorporation of multiple metal elements within a single framework. Moving beyond conventional single-metal systems expands the accessible chemical space and creates opportunities to combine different chemical environments, coordination preferences, and functionalities. Yet, the incorporation of multiple metals is far from straightforward: differences in reactivity, coordination chemistry, and crystallization behavior can strongly influence the formation of the resulting structures and the distribution of their constituent elements.
In this seminar, I will discuss how we are addressing these challenges through the development of synthetic strategies for multimetal MOFs. Selected examples will illustrate approaches ranging from the controlled combination of rare-earth elements to the incorporation of heterometallic molecular clusters as building units, enabling access to increasingly complex compositions and structures. I will also highlight the importance of advanced structural analysis in understanding how these materials form and how their chemical complexity translates into structural features.
Together, these studies illustrate both the opportunities and challenges associated with moving toward more chemically complex framework materials, and how controlling this complexity can provide new directions for the design of functional solids.
