1 Department of Chemistry and International Institute for Nanotechnology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
2 Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 230 Elizabeth Avenue, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1C 5S7, Canada.
3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Centre for NanoScience Research, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. W., Montréal, Québec, H4B 1R6, Canada.
4 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032, United States.
5 Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 2100 Main Street, Stevens Point, WI 54481, United States.
6 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston,

Porphyrins are important molecules widely found in nature in the form of enzyme active sites and visible light absorption units. Recent interest in using these functional molecules as building blocks for the construction of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have rapidly increased due to the ease in which the locations of, and the distances between, the porphyrin units can be controlled in these porous crystalline materials. Porphyrin-based MOFs with atomically precise structures provide an ideal platform for the investigation of their structure-function relationships in the solid state without compromising accessibility to the inherent properties of the porphyrin building blocks. This review will provide a historical overview of the development and applications of porphyrin-based MOFs from early studies focused on design and structures, to recent efforts on their utilization in biomimetic catalysis, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, sensing, and biomedical applications.