Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a subset of coordination polymers, which are sometimes referred to as porous coordination polymers (PCPs), and consist of metal ions or metallic clusters which form the nodes and polydentate organic ligands creating linkers. The wide selection of lanthanide and transition metal ions all paired with their diverse coordination geometries, allows for synthetic organic chemistry to open up the door to an immense number of MOF architectures. Known as the modulation approach, MOFs can engineer defective sites through the addition of monocarboxylic acids. Defect manipulation has commonly shown to improve characteristics of a given material, opening doors for application such as the specific oxidation of 4-methoxybenzylamine. This project aims to synthesise and engineer defects into a Ni/Co mixed metal MOF-74, in order to monitor the impact these defects have on the properties and applications of MOFs. The overarching idea to use the oxidation of 4–methoxybenzylamine as a model substrate for the advancement of photocatalysts, widening the scope of MOF catalysis. The synthesis of defective sites utilised a 4:1 molar ratio of DHBA:DHTA, as opposed to the pristine MOF containing no defects. 4 Techniques, FTIR, NMR, PXRD and TGA-MS, were used to characterize the synthesised MOFs and monitor the photocatalytic applications. Analysis of the data allowed for the conclusion that both MOFs were successfully synthesized, and a defect was engineered. The engineered defect presented a lower thermal stability than that of its pristine counterpart. It was discovered that both MOFs exhibit no catalytic activity, with the reasoning for this remaining undetermined. This paves the way for further research into the photocatalytic properties of mixed metal MOFs engineered with defects.
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