A bifunctional metal-organic framework featuring the combination of open metal sites and Lewis basic sites for selective gas adsorption and heterogeneous cascade catalysis

A bifunctional MOF ( JUC-199) featuring dual functionality, open metal sites ( Zn2+) and Lewis basic sites (-NH2), has been successfully synthesized using a custom-designed ligand. JUC-199 demonstrated good selective gas sorption behaviours with IAST selectivity values of 9, 30, 37 and 64 at 298 K and 101 kPa for CO2/CH4, CO2/N-2, C2H6/CH4 and C2H4/CH4 respectively; surpassing those of most MOFs reported thus far. Moreover, JUC-199 can serve as a heterogeneous cascade catalyst to efficiently catalyse the tandem one-pot deacatalization-Knoevenagel condensation reaction.