Ionic liquid/metal–organic framework hybrid generated by ion-exchange reaction: synthesis and unique catalytic activity

In this work, we succeeded for the first time in immobilizing an ionic liquid (IL) in a metal–organic framework (MOF) by using ion-exchange reactions. Interestingly, the resulting composites showed catalytic activities that were not observed with the original IL or the IL physically adsorbed on the MOF, implying that its ionic state was drastically changed upon immobilization.