A Controllable Gate Effect in Cobalt(II) Organic Frameworks by Reversible Structure Transformations

With H2 O or NH3 stimuli, the blue cobalt-based metal-organic framework (MOF) BP can reversibly transform to red RP. The removal/recovery of terephthalate ligands accompanied by the transformation leads to a gate effect, which allows the encapsulation and release of small solvent molecules under certain conditions. This is the first example of topology transformation from a self-penetrating to interpenetrating net in 3D MOFs.