A mixed dicarboxylate strut approach to enhancing catalytic activity of a de novo urea derivative of metal-organic framework UiO-67.

A hydrogen-bond donating MOF catalyst based on the framework, containing both urea-functionalized dicarboxylate and biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate struts, was synthesized by a de novo route. The mixed strut framework has larger pore sizes and improved catalytic activity for Henry reactions than the pure strut analogue, which contains only the urea-functionalized dicarboxylate linker.