Moosa Basem, Alimi Lukman O, Shkurenko Aleksander, Fakim Aliyah, Bhatt Prashant M, Zhang Gengwu, Eddaoudi Mohamed, Khashab Niveen M
Smart Hybrid Materials (SHMs) Laboratory, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Functional Materials Design, Discovery and Development Research Group, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Nov 23;59(48):21367-21371. doi: 10.1002/anie.202007782. Epub 2020 Oct 2.
Developing the competence of molecular sorbents for energy-saving applications, such as C8 separations, requires efficient, stable, scalable, and easily recyclable materials that can readily transition to commercial implementation. Herein, we report an azobenzene-based cage for the selective separation of p-xylene isomer across a range of C8 isomers in both vapor and liquid states with selectivity that is higher than the reported all-organic sorbents. The crystal structure shows non-porous cages that are separated by p-xylene molecules through selective CH-π interactions between the azo bonds and the methyl hydrogen atoms of the xylene molecules. This cage is stable in solution and can be regenerated directly under vacuum to be used in multiple cycles. We envisage that this work will promote the investigation of the azo bond as well as guest-induced crystal-to-crystal phase transition in non-porous organic solids for energy-intensive separations.
开发用于节能应用（如 C8 分离）的分子吸附剂的能力，需要高效、稳定、可扩展且易于回收的材料，这些材料能够轻松过渡到商业应用。在此，我们报道了一种基于偶氮苯的笼状结构，用于在气相和液相中选择性分离一系列 C8 异构体中的对二甲苯异构体，其选择性高于已报道的所有有机吸附剂。晶体结构显示无孔笼状结构，对二甲苯分子通过偶氮键与二甲苯分子的甲基氢原子之间的选择性 CH-π 相互作用将其隔开。这种笼状结构在溶液中稳定，可在真空下直接再生以用于多个循环。我们设想这项工作将促进对用于能源密集型分离的无孔有机固体中偶氮键以及客体诱导的晶体到晶体相变的研究。
