A Thorium Metal‐Organic Framework with Outstanding Thermal and Chemical Stability

A new thorium metal‐organic framework (MOF), Th(OBA) 2 , where OBA is 4,4′‐oxybis(benzoic) acid, has been synthesized hydrothermally in the presence of a range of nitrogen‐donor coordination modulators. This Th‐MOF, described herein as GWMOF‐13, has been characterized by single‐crystal and powder X‐ray diffraction, as well as through a range of techniques including gas sorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), solid‐state UV/Vis and luminescence spectroscopy. Single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis of GWMOF‐13 reveals an interesting, high symmetry (cubic Ia 3 ‾ d ) structure, which yields a novel srs‐a topology. Most notably, TGA analysis of GWMOF‐13 reveals framework stability to 525 °C, matching the thermal stability benchmarks of the UiO‐66 series MOFs and zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), and setting a new standard for thermal stability in f‐block based MOFs.