DUT-5

DUT-5 (DUT ⇒ Dresden University of Technology) is a material in the class of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

Metal-organic frameworks are crystalline materials, in which metals are linked by ligands (linker molecules) to form repeating three-dimensional structures known as coordination entities.

The DUT-5 framework is an expanded version of the MIL-53 structure and consists of Al3+ metal centers and biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate (BPDC) linker molecules.

The resulting structure contains diamond-shaped micropores extending in one dimension.

Due to the tool-box like design of metal-organic framework materials, other organic molecules, which are structurally similar to biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate, have also been used as linker molecules for the synthesis of functionalized DUT-5 materials, which contain uncoordinated functional groups in their framework structure.

Crystal structure of DUT-5. Perspective view of the pore cross-section. Metal: green, oxygen: red, carbon: grey, hydrogen: not shown.
Crystal structure of DUT-5. Orthographic view of the M-OH chains, which are connected by biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate linker molecules. Metal: green, oxygen: red, carbon: grey, hydrogen: not shown.