Framework structures are molecular cages which are capable of selectively trapping atoms, ions and molecules within the cage. Materials that adopt framework structures have attracted significant attention recently as they have potential applications in a wide range of areas, including catalysis and the pharmaceutical industry. Currently almost all existing framework structures are neutral or negatively charged, but a group led by researchers from the University of Liverpool in collaboration with the National Crystallography Service, Newcastle University and the University of Warwick have used Diamond to study a new, positively charged framework structure.
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| The structure of Yb3O(OH)6Cl∙2H2O |
Andrew Fogg is a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool who took part in the study.
“Layered hydroxides have found numerous applications so the discovery of the first hydroxide with a 3D framework structure is an exciting new development which opens up many new areas for research. The rigid framework structure should show a higher degree of shape selectivity in the anion reactions than is found for the layered materials which could lead to some new applications. The sample contained only very small crystals so the data collected at Diamond was essential in the determination of the structure of this new cationic framework.”Andrew Fogg
Yb3O(OH)6Cl•2H2O: An Anion-Exchangeable Hydroxide with a Cationic Inorganic Framework Structure, Helen Goulding, Sarah Hulse, William Clegg, Ross Harrington, Helen Playford, Richard Walton, Andrew Fogg, Journal of the American Chemical Society
DOI:10.1021/ja104636x
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