Crystal Engineering and Metal-Organic Frameworks

Research Project, 2010 – 2012

The project goal is to continue and extend a collaboration between Chalmers University of Technology, Cape Town University and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in the field of Crystal Engineering and Metal-Organic Frameworks. The ?engineering? of molecule-based solid-state materials is becoming important in many areas of chemistry related disciplines. For example, the crystallized form of many active drug substances can be ?engineered? to get good solubility properties, and in materials chemistry we see prototypes for new compounds with applications as porous materials for catalysis and separation, nonlinear optics, magnetic materials and gas storage materials. In this later case Metal-Organic Frameworks and the concept of 3D-nets has emerged as important goals and tools. The groups in Cape Town and Gothenburg have been active in this field since the late 1990:ies, but have not collaborated before and have each a number of specialties that will be of mutual benefit when applied together in collaborative projects. The South African team has analytical equipment involving gas sorption and desorption not easily available in Gothenburg and the Swedish team have know-how in topology and network analysis as well as inorganic synthesis. The project was initiated by a planning grant in 2008, one manuscript will soon be submitted for publication and in May 2009 the first PhD-student from Cape Town will visit Chalmers.