• Lahav, Michal
• Kazes, Miri
• Oron, Dan
• Nasi, Hadar
• Wen, Qiang
• Gregorio, Maria Chiara Di

Abstract

We show that metal-organic frameworks, based on tetrahedral pyridyl ligands, can be used as a morphological and structural template to form a series of isostructural crystals having different metal ions and properties. An iterative crystal-to-crystal conversion has been demonstrated by consecutive cation exchanges. The primary manganese-based crystals are characterized by an uncommon space group ( P622 ). The packing includes chiral channels that can mediate the cation exchange, as indicated by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy on microtome-sectioned crystals. The observed cation exchange is in excellent agreement with the Irving-Williams series (Mn < Fe < Co < Ni < Cu > Zn) associated with the relative stability of the resulting coordination nodes. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the metal cation controls the optical and magnetic properties. The crystals maintain their morphology, allowing a quantitative comparison of their properties at both the ensemble and single-crystal level.<br />

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• morphology
• Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
• Manganese
• space group