The reaction of the V-shaped linker molecule 5-hydroxyisophthalic acid (H2L0), with Al or Ga nitrate under almost identical reaction conditions leads to the nitration of the linker and subsequent formation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with CAU-10 or MIL-53 type structure of composition [Al(OH)(L)], denoted as Al-CAU-10-L-0,L- 2,L- 4,L- 6 or [Ga(OH)(L)], denoted as Ga-MIL-53-L-2. The Al-MOF contains the original linker L-0 as well as three different nitration products (L-2, L-4 and L-4/6), whereas the Ga-MOF mainly incorporates the linker L-2. The compositions were deduced by H-1 NMR spectroscopy and confirmed by Rietveld refinement. In situ and ex situ studies were carried out to follow the nitration and crystallization, as well as the composition of the MOFs. The crystal structures were refined against powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data. As anticipated, the use of the V-shaped linker results in the formation of the CAU-10 type structure in the Al-MOF. Unexpectedly, the Ga-MOF crystallizes in a MIL-53 type structure, which is usually observed with linear or slightly bent linker molecules. To study the structure directing effect of the in situ nitrated linker, pure 2-nitrobenzene-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (m-H2BDC-NO2) was employed which exclusively led to the formation of [Ga(OH)(C8H3NO6)] (Ga-MIL-53-m-BDC-NO2), which is isoreticular to Ga-MIL-53-L-2. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations confirmed the higher stability of Ga-MIL-53-L-2 compared to Ga-CAU-10-L-2 and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations (GCMC) are in agreement with the observed water adsorption isotherms of Ga-MIL-53-L-2.

Two new, microporous MOFs of framework composition ((CH3)(2)NH2)(2)[M3O(HHTP)(HHTP center dot)], M = Al3+, Ga3+, H6HHTP = 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexahydroxytriphenylene, are described. Electron diffraction combined with molecular simulations show that these compounds crystallize in the beta-cristobalite structure, containing a new type of trinuclear inorganic building unit for MOFs and radical anions.