Engineering a Zirconium MOF through Tandem “Click” Reactions: A General Strategy for Quantitative Loading of Bifunctional Groups on the Pore Surface

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) assembled from linkers of identical length but with different functional groups have gained increasing interests recently. However, it is very challenging for precise control of the ratios of different functionalities. Herein, we reported a stable azide- and alkyne-appended Zr-MOF that can undergo quantitative tandem click reactions on the different functional sites, thus providing a unique platform for quantitative loading of bifunctional moieties. As an added advantage, the same MOF product can be obtained via two independent routes. The method is versatile and can tolerate a wide variety of functional groups, and furthermore, a heterogeneous acid-base MOF organocatalyst was synthesized by tandemly introducing both acidic and basic groups onto the predesigned pore surface. The presented strategy provides a general way toward the construction of bifunctional MOFs with a precise control of ratio of different functionalities for desirable applications in future.