Post-Synthetic Ligand Exchange by Mechanochemistry: Toward Green, Efficient, and Large-Scale Preparation of Functional Metal–Organic Frameworks

Green, facile, and large-scale preparation of functionalized metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) remains a challenge. Herein, we report a rapid synthesis of functionalized MOFs by the integration of post-synthetic ligand exchange (PSLE) and mechanochemistry. This mechano-PSLE approach can circumvent the hurdles of PSLE such as long reaction time, excessive solvent, and even failure of PSLE caused by redissolution and recrystallization under solvothermal conditions. More importantly, the gram-scale MOF functionalized with the chiral group can be obtained facilely and greenly. It exhibited excellent asymmetric catalytic performance (81% conversion and 92.1% ee) for α-alkylation of aldehydes irradiated by a xenon lamp, providing a basis for industrial batch production of functionalized MOFs.