Diastereoselective heterogeneous bromination of stilbene in a porous metal-organic framework.

Postsynthetic modification of a porous MOF, Zn(4)O(trans-4,4'-stilbene dicarboxylate)(3), with Br(2) results in diastereoselective bromination of the stilbene units. This is a heterogeneous process, with the stereocontrol originating in the rigidity of the coordinated ligand and the porous nature of the MOF, which allows "solution-like" access to reactive sites. X-ray diffraction and N(2) sorption studies suggest that partial bromination serves to increase the stability of this interpenetrated MOF structure.