A Cavity-Tailored Metal-Organic Cage Entraps Gases Selectively in Solution and the Amorphous Solid State.
Published version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Zhu, Jun-Long
Zhang, Dawei https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0898-9795
Ronson, Tanya K https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6917-3685
Wang, Wenjing
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.
Description
Keywords
gas adsorption, gas encapsulation, host-guest chemistry, metal-organic cage, supramolecular chemistry
Journal Title
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1433-7851
1521-3773
1521-3773
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
European Research Council (695009)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P027067/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P027067/1)