Hydrolysis of Dimethyl Phosphite by Zr- and Hf-UiO-66.

Metal-organic frameworks have been utilized as heterogeneous catalysts for the degradation of chemical warfare agents, typically organophosphorous nerve agents. Vibrational spectroscopy techniques coupled with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were utilized to study the adsorption and degradation of dimethyl phosphite (DMP), a simulant molecule of the organophosphorus nerve agent Soman (GD), by Zr- and Hf-UiO-66 as a function of particle size, defect type, and defect density. Defective Zr- and Hf-UiO-66 have been synthesized via a modulated synthesis protocol to engineer missing linker and missing cluster defects into the crystal structure.