Two Large-Pore Metal–Organic Frameworks Derived from a Single Polytopic Strut

Two noninterpenetrated MOFs with strikingly different structures, NU-108-Cu and NU-108-Zn, were prepared from a single hexa-carboxylated ligand. NU-108-Cu contains paddlewheel-coordinated copper ions as nodes and is based on a 3,24 network associated with an inherently noncatenating rht-topology. Modifications introduced in the hexa-carboxylated struts (uniquely placed phenyl spacers) lead to substantial changes in pore sizes, relative to those found in other MOFs based on 3,24 networks and paddlewheel-coordinated copper ions. NU-108-Zn features a new net based on (3,3,6)-connecter and octadehral Zn4O nodes in which all struts lie in a–b planes.