Green Synthesis of Reticular Materials

To help ensure a prosperous future on Earth for coming generations, academia and industry need to transform the way they plan and carry out the synthesis of novel materials to make them more environmentally sustainable. In particular, the field of reticular materials, i.e., metal-organic frameworks, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks, has great potential to outperform other materials and revolutionize various fields of applications. This review highlights several key aspects from the choice of their starting materials, solvents and synthetic methodologies that fall under the umbrella of the Green Chemistry principles, and incorporates a Circular Economy perspective by providing relevant strategies such as reuse, regeneration, or recycling to maximize the value of the Earth's available resources. Moreover, it will shed light on the life cycle assessment results of selected reticular materials and consider how constraints imposed by Green Chemistry principles, life cycle assessment metrics, and circular patterns will shape the future rational sustainable design and discovery of reticular materials. To make the syntheses of emerging and existing reticular materials more environmentally sustainable, this review highlights key considerations for the choice of their raw materials, solvents, and synthetic methodologies that are in line with the 12 principles of Green Chemistry, as well as the importance of a life cycle mindset that includes strategies such as reuse, regeneration or recycling.image