A Cavity‐Tailored Metal‐Organic Cage Entraps Gases Selectively in Solution and the Amorphous Solid State. Issue 21 (4th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhu, Jun‐Long; Zhang, Dawei; Ronson, Tanya K.; Wang, Wenjing; Xu, Lin; Yang, Hai‐Bo; Nitschke, Jonathan R.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 60:Issue 21(2021)
• Page Start: 11789
• Page End: 11792
• Publication Date: 2021-05-04
• Subjects: gas adsorption -- gas encapsulation -- host-guest chemistry -- metal-organic cage -- supramolecular chemistry; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202102095
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Here we report the subcomponent self‐assembly of a truxene‐faced Zn4 L4 tetrahedron, which is capable of binding the smallest hydrocarbons in solution. By deliberately incorporating inward‐facing ethyl groups on the truxene faces, the resulting partially‐filled cage cavity was tailored to encapsulate methane, ethane, and ethene via van der Waals interactions at atmospheric pressure in acetonitrile, and also in the amorphous solid state. Interestingly, gas capture showed divergent selectivities in solution and the amorphous solid state. The selective binding may prove useful in designing new processes for the purification of methane and ethane as feedstocks for chemical synthesis. Abstract : A Zn4 L4 coordination cage enabled entrapment of gases in both solution and the amorphous solid state at atmospheric pressure. The lipophilic cavity of the cage was designed through a cavity‐filling strategy, which could bind small hydrocarbon gases. A contrasting selectivity of gas capture was observed in solution and the solid state, showing the potential of the cage to be engineered as porous liquids or solid adsorbents for gas separation.