A 9,9′-spirobifluorene based Metal–Organic Framework: synthesis, structure analysis and gas sorption properties

The new square planar tetracarboxylate ligand L (4,4′,4′′,4′′′-(9,9′-spirobi[fluorene]-2,2′,7,7′-tetrayl)tetrabenzoic acid) was synthesized and used for synthesis of the Metal–Organic Framework Cu2L(H2O)2·(EtOH)4 denoted SBF–Cu. This material possesses the classical 4–4 regular tiling topology with paddle-wheel inorganic building units. Due to the presence of SBF cores, the interactions between the layers of this MOF confer it specific properties: high specific surface area, open metal sites under activation, and promising hydrogen uptake capacity.