Many of the proposed applications of metal–organic framework (MOF) materials may fail to materialize if the community does not fully address the difficult fundamental work needed to map out the ‘time gap’ in the literature — that is, the lack of investigation into the time-dependent behaviours of MOFs as opposed to equilibrium or steady-state properties. Although there are a range of excellent investigations into MOF dynamics and time-dependent phenomena, these works represent only a tiny fraction of the vast number of MOF studies. This Review provides an overview of current research into the temporal evolution of MOF structures and properties by analysing the time-resolved experimental techniques that can be used to monitor such behaviours. We focus on innovative techniques, while also discussing older methods often used in other chemical systems. Four areas are examined: MOF formation, guest motion, electron motion and framework motion. In each area, we highlight the disparity between the relatively small amount of (published) research on key time-dependent phenomena and the enormous scope for acquiring the wider and deeper understanding that is essential for the future of the field.

如果社区没有完全解决绘制文献中“时间差距”所需的困难基础工作，那么金属有机骨架 (MOF) 材料的许多拟议应用可能无法实现——也就是说，缺乏对MOF 的时间依赖行为与平衡或稳态特性相反。尽管对 MOF 动力学和时间相关现象进行了一系列出色的研究，但这些工作仅占大量 MOF 研究的一小部分。本综述通过分析可用于监测此类行为的时间分辨实验技术，概述了当前对 MOF 结构和特性的时间演变的研究。我们专注于创新技术，同时也讨论其他化学系统中经常使用的旧方法。检查了四个方面：MOF 形成、客体运动、电子运动和框架运动。在每个领域，我们都强调了关于关键时间相关现象的（已发表）研究数量相对较少与获得对该领域的未来至关重要的更广泛和更深入的理解的巨大范围之间的差异。