Nanoporous {Y₂}-Organic Frameworks for Excellent Catalytic Performance on the Cycloaddition Reaction of Epoxides with CO₂ and Deacetalization–Knoevenagel Condensation

Stable metal–organic frameworks containing periodically arranged nanosized pores and active Lewis acid–base active sites are considered as ideal candidates for efficient heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, the exquisite combination of [Y2(CO2)7(H2O)2] cluster (abbreviated as {Y2}) and multifunctional linker of 2,4,6-tri(2,4-dicarboxyphenyl)pyridine (H6TDP) led to a nanoporous framework of {[Y2(TDP)(H2O)2]·5H2O·4DMF}n (NUC-53, NUC = North University of China), which is a rarely reported binuclear three-dimensional (3D) framework with hierarchical tetragonal-microporous (0.78 nm) and octagonal-nanoporous (1.75 nm) channels. The inner walls of these channels are aligned by {Y2} clusters and plentifully coexisted Lewis acid–base sites of YIII ions and Npyridine atoms. Furthermore, NUC-53 has a quite large void volume of ∼65.2%, which is significantly higher than most documented 3D rare-earth-based MOFs. The performed catalytic experiments exhibited that activated NUC-53 showed a high catalytic activity on the cycloaddition reactions of CO2 with styrene oxide under mild conditions with excellent turnover number (TON: 1980) and turnover frequency (TOF: 495 h–1). Moreover, the deacetalization–Knoevenagel condensation reactions of benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal and malononitrile could be efficiently prompted by the heterogeneous catalyst of NUC-53. These findings not only pave the way for the construction of nanoporous MOF based on rare-earth clusters with a variety of catalytic activities but also provide some new insights into the catalytic mechanism.