Room temperature aqueous synthesis of Ce(IV)-MOFs with UiO-66 architecture and their photocatalytic decarboxylative oxygenation of arylacetic acids

Cerium(IV)-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained a growing attention in both scientific and industrial spheres due to their unique potential in fields such as redox catalysis and photocatalysis. However, the synthetic pathways of Ce(IV)-MOFs are still extremely dominated by the conventional solvothermal conditions. Meanwhile, the research on photocatalysis of Ce(IV)-MOFs is still in its infancy, more experimental evidence is highly desirable to accelerate the development of this field. Here we present an innovative, widespread, green and sustainable synthetic route for nanocrystalline Ce(IV)-MOFs with the UiO-66 structure. Seven Ce-UiO-66-MOFs were successfully prepared at room temperature using water as the sole solvent in the presence of sodium acetate (NaAc). Furthermore, the photocatalytic activities of these Ce(IV)-MOFs for decarboxylative oxygenation of 4-fluorophenylacetic acid to give corresponding C–O bond-forming products 4-fluorobenzaldehyde and 4-fluorobenzyl alcohol under blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) irradiation and air were studied. Control experiments revealed that Ce-UiO-66-BDC exhibited the optimized catalytic efficiency among these Ce(IV)-MOFs, and can be applied to various arylacetic acids.