In October, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize for chemistry to three pioneers who were instrumental in the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Richard Robson (University of Melbourne; www.unimelb.edu.au), Susumu Kitagawa (Kyoto University; www.kyoto-u.ac.jp and Omar Yaghi (University of California at Berkeley; www.berkeley.edu) shared the award for their contributions toward designing and synthesizing this class of highly porous molecular structures characterized by repeated units of metals and organic molecular linkers.
The trio’s contributions “not only include a multitude of impressive examples of different structures and applications, but also a framework of concepts that has furthered the establishment of the entire area,” the Nobel Committee on Chemistry wrote in a commentary. “Not only has this development led a deepened understanding of predictive synthesis of periodic, extended structures, but it has fundamentally revised our perception of the solid state,” they added.
The story of the development of MOFs illustrates several of the fundamental strengths of science as an enterprise, as well as its ability to contribute to the common good. And it also highlights the many difficult challenges faced by those seeking to launch commercial applications for MOFs.
Serendipity, curiosity and imagination. The first synthetic pigment, Prussian Blue, was discovered accidentally at the dawn of the 18th century in an effort to create paint colors. Curiosity about the pigment’s unique properties led to insights about its structure: a cubic lattice of Fe 2+ atoms octahedrally coordinated to six cyanide ligands, whose nitrogen atom are bound to Fe +3. Imagination about the possibilities of using organic molecules as struts to link metal atoms drove modern investigations and development of MOFs.
Building on results. In the 1980s, Robson synthesized a tetrahedral molecule using nitrile groups to link copper atoms at each of the four vertices, and then stacked these molecules into a repeating crystalline structure. This showed the first glimpses of MOFs’ designability when using coordination chemistry to devise three-dimensional cavity structures. Later, Kitagawa was able to prove that stable, robust frameworks could be built that would retain their structure and that could absorb and release other molecules. Further investigations by Yaghi developed methods for designing and synthesizing crystalline materials and linking the molecular building units into extended porous frameworks.
Applying basic science findings to real-world problems. Because of their extraordinary surface area, tunable pore sizes and versatile chemical functionality, tens of thousands of MOFs have been synthesized so far, toward a wide range of applications. Among the areas for which MOFs are being actively developed are gas storage, batteries and fuel cells, synthesis and catalysis, harvesting water and CO 2 from atmosphere or waste gas, water purification and environmental remediation, drug delivery, separation science, biosensors and others. In addition, much effort is being put toward the use of MOFs in composite materials, combining MOFs with polymers, metals or carbon-based materials.
Role of industry. Now, even as research continues, industry has taken up the challenges of large-scale MOF production, including optimizing reaction conditions and solvent choice, and cost reduction. Industry has “played a continuous and active role” in both the discovery of MOFs and the expansion of their applications,” according to the committee. ■
Scott Jenkins, senior editor