A side stream of shale oil production contains alkylresorcinols as main constituents, which could prove to be useful intermediates to highly porous and versatile materials - metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The latter structures have been used as adsorbents for various organic and inorganic compounds, including organic sulfur containing molecules. In the current work, a pathway from phenolic compounds in shale oil toward metal-organic framework linkers was indicated and its utility was proved by using related metal-organic frameworks as effective adsorbents for sulfur from model fuels exemplified in the form of benzothiophene (BT) and isooctane, respectively.