New URJC-1 Material with Remarkable Stability and Acid-Base Catalytic Properties

Emerging new metal-organic structures with tunable physicochemical properties is an exciting research field for diverse applications. In this work, a novel metal-organic framework Cu(HIT)(DMF)(0.5), named URJC-1, with a three-dimensional non-interpenetrated utp topological network, has been synthesized. This material exhibits a microporous structure with unsaturated copper centers and imidazole–tetrazole linkages that provide accessible Lewis acid/base sites. These features make URJC-1 an exceptional candidate for catalytic application in acid and base reactions of interest in fine chemistry. The URJC-1 material also displays a noteworthy thermal and chemical stability in different organic solvents of different polarity and boiling water. Its catalytic activity was evaluated in acid-catalyzed Friedel–Crafts acylation of anisole with acetyl chloride and base-catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde with malononitrile. In both cases, URJC-1 material showed very good performance, better than other metal organic frameworks and conventional catalysts. In addition, a remarkable structural stability was proven after several consecutive reaction cycles.