Ligand-Directed Conformational Control over Porphyrinic Zirconium Metal–Organic Frameworks for Size-Selective Catalysis

Zirconium-based metal–organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs) have aroused enormous interest owing to their superior stability, flexible structures, and intriguing functions. Precise control over their crystalline structures, including topological structures, porosity, composition, and conformation, constitutes an important challenge to realize the tailor-made functionalization. In this work, we developed a new Zr-MOF (PCN-625) with a csq topological net, which is similar to that of the well-known PCN-222 and NU-1000. However, the significant difference lies in the conformation of porphyrin rings, which are vertical to the pore surfaces rather than in parallel. The resulting PCN-625 exhibits two types of one-dimensional channels with concrete diameters of 2.03 and 0.43 nm. Furthermore, the vertical porphyrins together with shrunken pore sizes could limit the accessibility of substrates to active centers in the framework. On the basis of the structural characteristics, PCN-625(Fe) can be utilized as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the size-selective [4 + 2] hetero-Diels–Alder cycloaddition reaction. Due to its high chemical stability, this catalyst can be repeatedly used over six times. This work demonstrates that Zr-MOFs can serve as tailor-made scaffolds with enhanced flexibility for target-oriented functions.