Biomolecules are the building blocks of life. Nature has evolved countless biomolecules that show promise for bridging metal ions. These molecules have emerged as an excellent source of biocompatible building blocks that can be used to design Metal-Biomolecule Frameworks (MBioFs). This feature article highlights the advances in the synthesis of this class of MOFs. Special emphasis is provided on the crystal structures of these materials, their miniaturization to the submicron length scale, and their new potential storage, catalytic, and biomedical applications. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

This work was supported by projects VALTEC08-2-003 and MAT2009-13977-C03. D. M. and I. I. thank the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación for RyC contracts. M. R.-F. thank the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology for a research fellowship. N.R. acknowledges support from the University of Pittsburgh and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (PRF 47601-G10).

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