In recent years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as a new type of inorganic materials have been discovered. Because of their high surface area and porosity, various and controllable frameworks, they have been extensively used in gas sorption, biomedicine, magnetic field and so on. Particularly, the application of MOFs as heterogeneous catalysts has attracted more attention and many achievements have been gained. In this review, the unique advantages of MOFs catalysts, the possible problems in practical applications and the corresponding solutions are firstly introduced. And then, we summarize the exploration and application of MOFs in catalytic reactions based on their three structural elements such as metal vertex, organic ligand and pore system. Examples of the catalytic reactions are followed. At last, the problems need to be focused and prospective directions on MOFs catalysts are discussed. Contents
1 Introduction
2 Classification of MOFs catalysts and its application
2.1 MOFs with metal active sites
2.2 MOFs with reactive functional groups
2.3 MOFs as supporters or nanometric reactors
3 Conclusion and outlook