Solid acid heterogeneous catalysts are widely used in industrial chemical processes, but understanding the exact molecular structures responsible for catalytic activity has proved difficult. Now, the structure of the strong Brønsted acid site for a sulfated zirconium-based metal–organic framework has been shown to consist of a specific arrangement of adsorbed water and sulfate moieties on the zirconium clusters.
- Christopher A. Trickett
- Thomas M. Osborn Popp
- Omar M. Yaghi
