Manganese Metal-Organic Frameworks as Versatile Catalytic Platforms for Organic Transformations

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a distinguished class of crystalline porous materials, are composed of metal ions or clusters interconnected by organic linkers. MOFs are associated with different promising properties like high surface area, tunable pore structure, and significant chemical functionality that make them an attractive class of heterogeneous catalysts. The modular nature of MOFs allows for design control over their active sites within the catalytic framework. Among transition metals, manganese (Mn) has received significant attention for several reasons, including the existence of multiple accessible oxidation states (Mn²⁺, Mn³⁺, and Mn⁵⁺), high redox activity, modest toxicity, and low cost. These benefits allow Mn-MOFs to mediate a suitable host of organic transformations, such as oxidation, condensation, and multicomponent coupling reactions, under mild, green, and sustainable catalytic conditions. The combined features of the tunable structure common in MOFs and the flexible redox behavior led to enhanced catalytic performance, stability, and reusability of Mn-MOFs. This review describes the detailed catalytic applications and mechanistic aspects of Mn-MOFs for sustainable organic transformations developed over the past 15 years.