HOFs under light: Relevance to photon-based science and applications

Hydrogen-bonded Organic Frameworks (HOFs) are an appealing, newly emerging classes of porous materials whose bright potential as multifunctional resources is reflected in important applications like gas storage and separation, molecular recognition, electric and optical materials, chemical sensing, catalysis, and biomedicine. HOFs are assembled from organic building blocks through H-bonding interactions. The resultant framework can be further reinforced via weak connections such as π-π, van der Waals, and/or C-H-π interactions. The highly flexible and reversible HOF structures are exceptionally suitable for the realization of smart HOF materials. To this end, it is crucial to unravel and control the photobehavior of these compounds at intimate levels by the use of advanced laser-based spectroscopy and microscopy techniques. The use of light to study the photophysical processes of HOF-based systems will help to trigger further research to expand their applicability in the related fields. This Review surveys the past-10-years contributions on the spectroscopy and photoinduced fast/ultrafast dynamics of HOFs, the interactions between their building units, the effect of light on their photostability, and most important photonic applications. The aim of this work is to give a rich up-to-date summary of photochemistry and related applications of HOFs and their composites. The reviewed HOFs have been divided into different families based on the nature of the linker, with the purpose of offering to the reader a concise understanding of the related photoinduced processes within each family. The relevant applications of HOFs are also briefly summarized to validate their potential use in modern science and technology.