Spectroscopic Evidence for Room Temperature Interaction of Molecular Oxygen with Cobalt Porphyrin Linker Sites within a Metal–Organic Framework

Metalloporphyrin-based metal-organic frameworks offer a promising platform for developing solid-state porous materials with accessible, coordinatively unsaturated metal sites. Probing small-molecule interactions at the metalloporphyrin sites within these materials on a molecular level under ambient conditions is crucial for both understanding and ultimately harnessing this functionality for potential catalytic purposes. Co-PCN-222, a metal-organic framework based on cobalt(II) porphyrin linkers. is investigated using in situ UV-vis diffuse-reflectance and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Spectroscopic evidence for the axial interaction of diatomic oxygen with the framework's open metalloporphyrin sites at room temperature is presented and discussed.