Roles of Organic Fragments in Redirecting Crystal/Molecular Structures of Inorganic-Organic Hybrids Based on Lacunary Keggin-Type Polyoxometalates.

Lacunary polyoxometalates (LPOMs) are key precursors for the synthesis of functional POMs. To date, reviews dedicated to behavioral studies of LPOMs often comprise the role of metal ions, including transition metal (TM) and rare earth (RE) ions, in extending and stability of high-nuclearity clusters. In contrast, the role of organic ligands in the structures and properties of lacunary-based hybrids has remained less explored. In this review, we focus on the role of organic fragments in the self-assembling process of POM-based architectures and discuss relationships between the nature and structure of organic ligand and properties such as the topology of hybrid inorganic-organic material in RE and TM-RE heterometallic derivatives of lacunary Keggin-type POMs. The effects of organic fragment in mixed ligand hybrids are also briefly reviewed.

When metal-organic framework mediated smart drug delivery meets gastrointestinal cancers.

Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract constitute one of the most common cancer types worldwide and a ∼58% increase in the global number of cases has been estimated by IARC for the next twenty years. Recent advances in drug delivery technologies have attracted scientific interest for developing and utilizing efficient therapeutic systems. The present review focuses on the use of nanoscale MOFs (Nano-MOFs) as carriers for drug delivery and imaging purposes. In pursuit of significant improvements to current gastrointestinal cancer chemotherapy regimens, systems that allow multiple concomitant therapeutic options (polytherapy) and controlled release are highly desirable. In this sense, MOF-based nanotherapeutics represent a significant step towards achieving this goal. Here, the current state-of-the-art of interdisciplinary research and novel developments into MOF-based gastrointestinal cancer therapy are highlighted and reviewed.

Current status and future prospects of metal-organic frameworks at the interface of dye-sensitized solar cells.

The implementation of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as an integral part of dye-sensitized solar cells has received increasing attention over the past decade. Much effort has been devoted to improving the performance of these cells by optimizing the photosensitizer, photoanode, and counter electrode. This Frontier Article provides a snapshot of the recent advances in each of these three major directions achieved via MOF implementation.