Isolating reactive metal-based species in Metal-Organic Frameworks - viable strategies and opportunities.

Structural insight into reactive species can be achieved via strategies such as matrix isolation in frozen glasses, whereby species are kinetically trapped, or by confinement within the cavities of host molecules. More recently, Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have been used as molecular scaffolds to isolate reactive metal-based species within their ordered pore networks. These studies have uncovered new reactivity, allowed observation of novel metal-based complexes and clusters, and elucidated the nature of metal-centred reactions responsible for catalysis. This perspective considers strategies by which metal species can be introduced into MOFs and highlights some of the advantages and lim…