Metal–Organic Frameworks
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025
About This Prize
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognized the development of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) — a revolutionary class of porous crystalline materials constructed from metal ions or clusters linked by organic bridging ligands. MOFs exhibit extraordinarily high surface areas (up to >7,000 m²/g), tunable pore sizes, and customizable chemical functionality. They have transformative applications in gas storage and separation (CO₂ capture, hydrogen storage), catalysis, drug delivery, water harvesting, and sensing.
Lecture 1
“Design and Construction of Targeted Extended Structures using Pre-Organized Building Blocks”
Lecture 2
“The Usefulness of the Useless – How MOFs Transformed the Concept of Porous Matter”
Lecture 3
“Metal–Organic Frameworks – From Molecules to Society”
Key Concepts
- • Reticular Chemistry: Designing extended structures by linking molecular building blocks through strong bonds into predetermined topologies
- • Secondary Building Units (SBUs): Metal-oxide clusters that serve as rigid vertices in the framework architecture
- • Record Surface Areas: MOFs achieve internal surface areas exceeding 7,000 m²/g — a teaspoon can have the area of a football field
- • Applications: CO₂ capture, hydrogen storage, water harvesting from desert air, catalysis, and targeted drug delivery