Metal–Organic Framework Based upon the Synergy of a Brønsted Acid Framework and Lewis Acid Centers as a Highly Efficient Heterogeneous Catalyst for Fixed-Bed Reactions

We report a strategy of combining a Brønsted acid metal-organic framework (MOF) with Lewis acid centers to afford a Lewis acid@Brønsted acid MOF with high catalytic activity, as exemplified in the context of MIL-101-Cr-SO3H·Al(III). Because of the synergy between the Brønsted acid framework and the Al(III) Lewis acid centers, MIL-101-Cr-SO3H·Al(III) demonstrates excellent catalytic performance in a series of fixed-bed reactions, outperforming two benchmark zeolite catalysts (H-Beta and HMOR). Our work therefore not only provides a new approach to achieve high catalytic activity in MOFs but also paves a way to develop MOFs as a new type of highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for fixed-bed reactions.