Modulating Metal−Organic Frameworks To Breathe: A Postsynthetic Covalent Modification Approach

Postsynthetic covalent modification of a metal-organic framework (MOF) is shown to activate "breathing" behavior upon adsorption of certain gases. The findings reported suggest that chemical modification can be used to trigger, tune, and control the flexibility of MOFs in an unprecedented fashion. By manipulation of MOF breathing and flexibility, the development of new MOFs with selective gas adsorption properties may be realized.