2-Methylimidazolate linkers of Pt@ZIF-8 are exchanged with imidazolate using solvent-assisted linker exchange (SALE) to expand the apertures of the parent material and create Pt@SALEM-2. Characterization of the material before and after SALE was performed. Both materials are active as catalysts for the hydrogenation of 1-octene, whereas the hydrogenation of cis-cyclohexene occurred only with Pt@SALEM-2, consistent with larger apertures for the daughter material. The largest substrate, beta-pinene, proved to be unreactive with H-2 when either material was employed as a candidate catalyst, supporting the contention that substrate molecules, for both composites, must traverse the metal organic framework component in order to reach the catalytic nanoparticles.