High-Pressure in Situ (129)Xe NMR Spectroscopy: Insights into Switching Mechanisms of Flexible Metal–Organic Frameworks Isoreticular to DUT-49

[Image: see text] Flexible metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are capable of changing their crystal structure as a function of external stimuli such as pressure, temperature, and type of adsorbed guest species. DUT-49 is the first MOF exhibiting structural transitions accompanied by the counterintuitive phenomenon of negative gas adsorption. Here, we present high-pressure in situ (129)Xe NMR spectroscopic studies of a novel isoreticular MOF family based on DUT-49. These porous materials differ only in the length of their organic linkers causing changes in pore size and elasticity. The series encompasses both, purely microporous materials as well as materials with both micropores and small mesopores. The chemical shift of the adsorbed xenon depends on xenon–wall interactions and thus on the pore size of the material. The xenon adsorption behavior of different MOFs can be observed over the whole range of relative pressure. Chemical shift adsorption/desorption isotherms closely resembling the conventional, uptake-measurement-based isotherms were obtained at 237 K where all materials are rigid. The comparable chemical environment of the adsorbed xenon in these isoreticular MOFs allows to establish a correlation between the chemical shift at a relative pressure of p/p(0) = 1.0 and the mean pore diameter. Furthermore, the xenon adsorption behavior of MOFs is studied also at 200 K. Here, structural flexibility is found for DUT-50, a material with an even longer linker than that of the previously known DUT-49. Its structural transitions are monitored by (129)Xe NMR spectroscopy. This compound is the second known MOF showing the phenomenon of negative gas adsorption. Further increase in the linker length results in DUT-151, a material with an interpenetrated network topology. In situ (129)Xe NMR spectroscopy proves that this material exhibits another type of flexibility compared to DUT-49 and DUT-50. Further surprising observations are made for DUT-46. Volumetric xenon adsorption measurements show that this nonflexible microporous material does not exhibit any hysteresis. In contrast, the in situ (129)Xe NMR spectroscopically detected xenon chemical shift isotherms exhibit a hysteresis even after longer equilibration times than in the volumetric experiments. This indicates kinetically hindered redistribution processes and long-lived metastable states of adsorbed xenon within the MOF persisting at the time scale of hours or longer.