Interwoven metal-organic framework on a periodic minimal surface with extra-large pores

Interpenetration (catenation) has Long been considered a major impediment i n the achievement of stable and porous crystalline structures. A strategy f or the design of highly porous and structurally stable networks makes use o f metalorganic building blocks that can be assembled on a triply periodic P -minimal geometric surface to produce structures that are interpenetrating- more accurately considered as interwoven. We used 4,4',4"-benzene-1,3,5-tri yl-tribenzoic acid (H3BTB), copper(II) nitrate, and N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF) to prepare Cu-3(BTB)(2)(H2O)(3). (DMF)(9)(H2O)(2) (MOF-14), whose str ucture reveals a pair of interwoven metal-organic frameworks that are mutua lly reinforced. The structure contains remarkably large pores, 16.4 angstro ms in diameter, in which voluminous amounts of gases and organic solvents c an be reversibly sorbed.