Synthesis of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Using Glycerol Carbonate

Masaki Itatani; Norbert Német; Nadia Valletti; Gábor Schuszter; Prisco Prete; Pierandrea Lo Nostro; Raffaele Cucciniello; Federico Rossi; István Lagzi

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c02876

Synthesis of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 Using Glycerol Carbonate

ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2023 Aug 21;11(35):13043-13049. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c02876. eCollection 2023 Sep 4.

Authors

Masaki Itatani¹, Norbert Német^{1

2}, Nadia Valletti³, Gábor Schuszter⁴, Prisco Prete⁵, Pierandrea Lo Nostro⁶, Raffaele Cucciniello^{5

7}, Federico Rossi³, István Lagzi^{1

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, Institute of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.
² Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.
³ Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, Univeristy of Siena, Piazzetta Enzo Tiezzi 1, 53100 Siena, Italy.
⁴ Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Szeged, Rerrich Béla tér 1, H-6720 Szeged, Hungary.
⁵ Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, viale Giovanni Paolo II 132, Fisciano, Salerno 84084, Italy.
⁶ Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Firenze, via della Lastruccia 3, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence 50019, Italy.
⁷ Centro Interdisciplinare Linceo Giovani, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Via della Lungara, 10, 00165 Roma, Italy.
⁸ ELKH-BME Condensed Matter Research Group, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

In this study, we show that glycerol carbonate (GlyC), a bio-based derivative of glycerol, can be used as a suitable green solvent for the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). In particular, a zinc-based zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) was synthesized by exploring several different experimental conditions (in terms of temperature, reaction time, and reactants' concentrations) to find that the yield of the reaction and the quality of the products, measured in terms of crystallinity, surface area, and porosity, were in line with those obtained in the most commonly (non-green) used solvents. GlyC was also found to be reusable for several cycles, maintaining the same original quality as a solvent for the synthesis. Finally, some indicators for the assessment of the greenness of a process (E-factor and PMI) revealed a milder environmental impact of GlyC with respect to other solvents.