Three N–H Functionalized Metal–Organic Frameworks with Selective CO2 Uptake, Dye Capture, and Catalysis

Three N–H functionalized metal–organic frameworks, Pb-DDQ, Zn-DDQ, and Cu-DDQ, were synthesized with a new flexible dicarboxylate ligand based on quinoxaline (H2DDQ = N,N′-dibenzoic acid-2,3-diaminoquinoxaline). CO2 adsorptions indicate that Zn-DDQ and Cu-DDQ have greatly enhanced the CO2 uptake due to the opposite N–H groups on pyrazine. With very small adsorption of N2, Cu-DDQ shows high selectivity for CO2 and N2. The three MOFs also have large adsorptions of some selected dyes, while Zn-DDQ and Cu-DDQ with large but different shapes of pores are demonstrated to be promising materials for fast separation of MB/other and CV/other mixtures, respectively. The cyanosilylation of aldehydes and ketones with high yields in a short reaction time for Cu-DDQ indicates that Cu-DDQ has a higher Lewis acidity than the other two MOFs.