Responsive metal-organic frameworks and framework materials: Under pressure, taking the heat, in the spotlight, with friends

Abstract

Recent years have seen a large increase of the research effort focused on framework materials, including the nowadays-ubiquitous metal-organic frameworks but also dense coordination polymers, covalent organic frameworks, and molecular frameworks. With the quickly increasing number of structures synthesized and characterized, one pattern emerging is the common occurrence of flexibility. More specifically, an important number of framework materials are stimuli-responsive: their structure can undergo changes of large amplitude in response to physical or chemical stimulation. They can display transformations induced by temperature, mechanical pressure, guest adsorption or evacuation, light absorption, etc. and are sometimes referred to as smart materials, soft crystals, or dynamic materials. This Perspective highlights recent progress in this field, showcasing some of the most novel and unusual responses to stimuli, as well as advances in the fundamental understanding of flexible framework materials.