Avoiding the Kinetic Inertness of Chromium Ions Using a Coordination Substitution Strategy for the Rapid Synthesis of Chromium-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks

Chromium-based metal–organic frameworks (Cr-MOFs) are very attractive in a wide range of applications due to their robustness and high porosity. However, the kinetic inertness of chromium ions results in the synthesis of Cr-MOFs often taking prolonged reaction times, which limit their industrial applications. Herein, we report a novel synthesis strategy based on coordination substitution, which overcomes the kinetic inertness of chromium ions and can synthesize Cr-MOFs in a shorter time. The versatility of this strategy has been demonstrated by producing several known Cr-MOFs, such as TYUT-96Cr, MIL-100Cr, MIL-101Cr, and MIL-53Cr. PXRD, SEM, TEM, 77 K N₂ adsorption, and TGA have proved that the Cr-MOFs synthesized using this new strategy have good crystallinity, high porosity, and excellent thermal stability. The synthesis mechanism was investigated using theoretical calculations.