A coordination defect-induced strategy gives frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) sites in a polyoxometalate (POM) based metal–organic framework (MOF), where the Lewis acid (LA) sites are linker-defective metal nodes and the Lewis base (LB) sites are derived from surface oxygen atoms of the POM. This FLP catalyst achieved heterolytic dissociation of H2 into highly active Hδ−, thus exhibiting excellent activity in acetylene hydrogenation.
