Mechanical Bond Approach to Introducing Self-Adaptive Active Sites in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Zinc-Catalyzed Organophosphorus Degradation

Mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) with discrete molecular components linked through a mechanical bond in space can be harnessed for the operation of molecular switches and machines, which shows huge potential to imitate the dynamic response of natural enzymes. In this work, rotaxane compounds were adopted as building monomers for the synthesis of a crown-ether ring mechanically intercalated covalence organic framework (COF). This incorporation of MIMs into open architecture implemented large amplitude motions, whose wheel slid along the axle in response to external stimulation. After impregnation with Zn2+ ions, the relative locations of two zinc active sites (crown-ether coordinated Zn(II) and bipyridine coordinated Zn(II)) are endowed with great flexibility to fit the conformational transformation of an organophosphorus agent during the hydrolytic process. Notably, the resulting self-adaptive binuclear zinc center in a crown-ether-threaded COF network is endowed with a record catalytic ability, with a rate over 85.5 μM min–1 for organophosphorus degradation. The strategy of synthesis for porous artificial enzymes through the introduction of mechanically bound crown ether will enable significant breakthroughs and new synthetic concepts for the development of advanced biomimetic catalysts.