Synthetic design of functional boron imidazolate frameworks

•The charge distribution strategy on the synthesis of boron imidazolate frameworks.•Functional boron imidazolate frameworks with diverse topologies based on 3- and 4-connected boron imidazolate ligands.•The mechanical and catalytic properties of boron imidazolate frameworks.

Boron imidazolate frameworks (BIFs) are a family of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) that based on the cross-linking of predetermined boron-imidazolate complexes by metal cations. One fundamental feature of BIFs is that both three-connected tripodal liangds and four-connected tetrahedral ligands can be readily synthesized prior to solvothermal synthesis. In this review, we focus on the recent advances in BIFs that possess zeotype and other types of topological nets based on the three- or four- connected boron imidazolate ligands. In particular, we emphasize the basic design principles of the synthetic methodology to construct specifically topological BIFs, especially, towards the zeolitic topologies.

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