AI agents for MOFs and COFs discovery

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are highly tunable in pore structure and chemical environment, yet their discovery remains slow and fragmented. Synthesis reports are often difficult to compare, characterization data are laborious to interpret, and computational predictions rarely guide experiments directly. Recent advances in large language models (LLM) have enabled the development of artificial intelligence (AI) agents that can interpret research goals, search the literature and databases, call external tools, and adapt workflows based on intermediate results. In this review, we distinguish three stages of AI-agent development in MOFs and COFs research: LLM-native, human-mediated systems; database-grounded, tool-using agents; and experiment-integrated, feedback-driven platforms. This progression reflects increasing scientific grounding and experimental agency. In our view, further progress will depend less on scaling language models alone than on developing traceable machine-actionable data, chemistry-aware validation, persistent experimental memory, and robust interfaces between AI agents and laboratory automation.