Philipp R. Matthes, Fabian Schönfeld, Sven H. Zottnick, Klaus Müller-Buschbaum

• The reaction of anhydrous lanthanide chlorides together with 4,4'-bipyridine yields the MOFs \(^{2}\)\(_{∞}\)[Ln\(_{2}\)Cl\(_{6}\)(bipy)\(_{3}\)]*2bipy, with Ln = Pr-Yb, bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine, and \(^{3}\)\(_{∞}\)[La\(_{2}\)Cl\(_{6}\)(bipy)\(_{5}\)]*4bipy. Post-synthetic thermal treatment in combination with different vacuum conditions was successfully used to shape the porosity of the MOFs. In addition to the MOFs microporosity, a tuneable mesoporosity can be implemented depending on the treatment conditions as a surface morphologicalThe reaction of anhydrous lanthanide chlorides together with 4,4'-bipyridine yields the MOFs \(^{2}\)\(_{∞}\)[Ln\(_{2}\)Cl\(_{6}\)(bipy)\(_{3}\)]*2bipy, with Ln = Pr-Yb, bipy = 4,4'-bipyridine, and \(^{3}\)\(_{∞}\)[La\(_{2}\)Cl\(_{6}\)(bipy)\(_{5}\)]*4bipy. Post-synthetic thermal treatment in combination with different vacuum conditions was successfully used to shape the porosity of the MOFs. In addition to the MOFs microporosity, a tuneable mesoporosity can be implemented depending on the treatment conditions as a surface morphological modification. Furthermore, thermal treatment without vacuum results in several identifiable crystalline high-temperature phases. Instead of collapse of the frameworks upon heating, further aggregation under release of bipy is observed. \(^{3}\)\(_{∞}\)[LaCl\(_{3}\)(bipy)] and \(^{2}\)\(_{∞}\)[Ln\(_{3}\)Cl\(_{9}\)(bipy)\(_{3}\)], with Ln = La, Pr, Sm, and \(^{1}\)\(_{∞}\)[Ho\(_{2}\)Cl\(_{6}\)(bipy)\(_{2}\)] were identified and characterized, which can also exhibit luminescence. Besides being released upon heating, the linker 4,4'-bipyridine can undergo activation of C-C bonding in ortho-position leading to the in-situ formation of 4,4':2',2 '':4 '',4'''-quaterpyridine (qtpy). qtpy can thereby function as linker itself, as shown for the formation of the network \(^{2}\)\(_{∞}\)[Gd\(_{2}\)Cl\(_{6}\)(qtpy)\(_{2}\)(bipy)\(_{2}\)]*bipy. Altogether, the manuscript elaborates the influence of thermal treatment beyond the usual activation procedures reported for MOFs.…