| The great importance that zeolites have in the industry accounting for 40 billion US dollars a year to the petroleum cracking industry alone has attracted the interest of synthesizing and developing new crystalline microstructures.;This work presents the unique structural properties of germanates, zeolite-type materials, by first reviewing five unique structure building units (SBUs) that include: 4=1 units, D4R units and large clusters with 7-, 9-, and 10-germanium atoms. Then, the work of the syntheses and characterization of different germanate structures is presented.;The synthesis and characterization of four zirconogermanates constructed from the same cluster consisting of five tetrahedral germanium atoms and one zirconium atom in octahedral coordination is presented. The structures were prepared using different amines as structure directing agents (SDA); ASU-23 (using 1,4-bis(3-aminopropyl) consists of one layered structure, ASU-24 (using hexamethylenediamine) is a pillared layered structure with exceptionally low framework density (FD=8.48 metal atoms per nanometer cubed), ASU-25 and ASU-26 (using 1,3-diaminopropane and ethylenediamine respectively) have 3-dimensional (3D) frameworks.;The layer germanate (ASU-22) is built from 7-germanium clusters. X-ray structural analysis [P6(3)cm, a =28.794(2), c=20.603(4), V=14793(3) (unit cell parameters are in angstroms, volume in angstroms cubed)] revealed that the framework exhibits the kagome (kgm) topology. The extensive series of syntheses demonstrated the key role played by HF in the condensation of the 7-germanium clusters (these clusters have not been synthesized without HF).;The zirconogermanate, ASU-17, in the 1,4-diaminobutane-HF system, was synthesized as crystalline powder and identified in the cubic crystals system with space group Ia-3d and unit cell parameter a =51.3 (angstroms) and corresponds to the SU-M structure reported by a group in Sweden. Exploratory work leading to the discovery this 3D cubic framework built from 10-germanium clusters showing pore size reaching the mesoporous range is presented.;The synthesis and characterization of ASU-21, a crystalline germanate displaying large rigid cylinders, was also synthesized in the presence of hexamethylenediamine. The single crystal X-ray analysis [Ibam, a=49.257(10), b=28.439(6), c=14.866(3), V=20825(7) (unit cell parameters in angstroms and volume in angtrom cubed)] revealed the novel open-framework built form the same 10-germanium clusters found in ASU-17. |
