Rare-Earth Metal–Organic Framework with Nonplanar Porphyrin Groups for High-Efficiency Photocatalysis

Nonplanar porphyrins play crucial roles in many biological processes and chemical reactions as catalysts. However, the preparation of artificial nonplanar porphyrins suffers from complicated organic syntheses. Herein, we present a new rare-earth porphyrinic metal–organic framework (RE-PMOF), BUT-233, which is a three-dimensional (3D) framework structure with the flu topology consisting of 4-connected BBCPPP-Ph ligands H₄BBCPPP-Ph = 5′,5⁗-(10,20-diphenylporphyrin-5,15-diyl)bis([1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl]-4,4′′ dicarboxylic acid) and 8-connected Eu₆ clusters. Noteworthily, the porphyrin cores of the BBCPPP-Ph ligands in BUT-233 are nonplanar with a ruffle-like conformation. In contrast, the porphyrin core in the free ligand H₄BBCPPP-Ph is in a nearly ideally planar conformation, as confirmed by its single-crystal structure. BUT-233 is microporous with 6–8 Å pores and a Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 649 m²/g, as well as high stability in common solvents. The MOF was used as a photocatalyst for the oxidation degradation of a chemical warfare agent model molecule CEES (CEES = 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide) under the light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation and an O₂ atmosphere at room temperature. CEES was almost completely converted into its nontoxic light-oxidized product CEESO (CEESO = 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfoxide) in only 5 min with t_1/2 = 2 min (t_1/2: half-life). Moreover, the toxic deep-oxidized product 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfone (CEESO₂) was not detected. The catalytic activity of BUT-233 was high in comparison with those of some previously reported MOF catalysts. The results of photo/electrochemical property studies suggested that the high catalytic activity of BUT-233 was benefited from the presence of nonplanar porphyrin rings on its pore surface.