Controlling Gas Selectivity in Molecular Porous Liquids by Tuning the Cage Window Size

Control of pore window size is the standard approach for tuning gas selectivity in porous solids. Here, we present the first example where this is translated into a molecular porous liquid formed from organic cage molecules. Reduction of the cage window size by chemical synthesis switches the selectivity from Xe‐selective to CH₄‐selective, which is understood using ¹²⁹Xe, ¹H, and pulsed‐field gradient NMR spectroscopy.     

PPh3衍生准多孔有机笼在Rh/PPh3体系催化氢甲酰化反应中的应用:增强活性和选择性及可回收利用

多孔有机笼(POCs)由英国利物浦大学的Cooper教授在2009年首次合成,这种多孔小分子材料的出现具有两方面重要意义:(1)开拓了多孔材料领域的一个全新分支,改变了人们对多孔材料的传统认知;(2)由于POCs材料由离散的小分子堆积而成,可溶解于一些常用的有机溶剂中,因此其在材料制备方面具有很好的"溶液成型"性能,该优势是三维延伸网状多孔材料所不具备的.POCs本质上是一种"中心带孔"的有机小分子,由刚性有机分子砌块收敛堆叠而成,其特殊结构在气体吸附与分离等方面表现出很好的应用前景.不同于传统空间延伸网状框架材料(如金属-有机框架材料和共价有机框架材料)及多孔有机聚合物(POPs)材料,POCs是一种在大多数有机溶剂中可溶解的小分子材料,因此在均相催化领域也有很好的应用前景.作为最为经典的有机配体,三苯基膦(PPh3)在金属有机化学和均相催化领域应用十分广泛,如目前均相催化工业应用最成功的典范之一氢甲酰化反应,大多数情况下使用的是PPh3与Rh形成的络合物催化剂.本文首先将PPh3进行醛基官能团化,通过醛基和氨基的收敛缩合形成POCs材料,合成了基于PPh3配体的准多孔有机笼(POC-DICP),利用得到的多孔有机笼制备出类Rh/PPh3均相催化体系的Rh/POC-DICP络合催化体系,并将其应用于氢甲酰化反应.相比于经典的Rh/PPh3均相催化体系,该Rh/POC-DICP催化体系在氢甲酰化反应中不仅展示出了更高的活性和目标产物醛的选择性(醛的化学选择性为97％,醛的正异构比为1.89),而且可以很方便地从均相反应体系中沉淀回收(通过调整溶剂体系极性).在氢甲酰化反应中,Rh/POC-DICP体系显示出了良好的底物适用性,在己烯、庚烯、辛烯和苯乙烯的氢甲酰化反应中均表现出良好的催化活性和醛选择性,同时催化剂回收使用4次,未见催化性能明显下降.X射线单晶衍射、同步辐射及DFT计算等结果表明,Rh/POC-DICP催化体系在氢甲酰化反应中具有较高活性和选择性的原因是POC-DICP多孔有机笼分子的有利的空间咬合角(123.88o)和P原子上相对的缺电子效应.本文设计合成的PPh3衍生的多孔有机笼不仅拓宽了多孔有机笼材料在催化领域的应用,而且为新型配体及络合催化剂的设计、合成及修饰提供了新的思路.     

PPh3衍生准多孔有机笼在Rh/PPh3体系催化氢甲酰化反应中的应用:增强活性和选择性及可回收利用

多孔有机笼(POCs)由英国利物浦大学的Cooper教授在2009年首次合成,这种多孔小分子材料的出现具有两方面重要意义:(1)开拓了多孔材料领域的一个全新分支,改变了人们对多孔材料的传统认知;(2)由于POCs材料由离散的小分子堆积而成,可溶解于一些常用的有机溶剂中,因此其在材料制备方面具有很好的"溶液成型"性能,该优势是三维延伸网状多孔材料所不具备的.POCs本质上是一种"中心带孔"的有机小分子,由刚性有机分子砌块收敛堆叠而成,其特殊结构在气体吸附与分离等方面表现出很好的应用前景.不同于传统空间延伸网状框架材料(如金属-有机框架材料和共价有机框架材料)及多孔有机聚合物(POPs)材料,POCs是一种在大多数有机溶剂中可溶解的小分子材料,因此在均相催化领域也有很好的应用前景.作为最为经典的有机配体,三苯基膦(PPh3)在金属有机化学和均相催化领域应用十分广泛,如目前均相催化工业应用最成功的典范之一氢甲酰化反应,大多数情况下使用的是PPh3与Rh形成的络合物催化剂.本文首先将PPh3进行醛基官能团化,通过醛基和氨基的收敛缩合形成POCs材料,合成了基于PPh3配体的准多孔有机笼(POC-DICP),利用得到的多孔有机笼制备出类Rh/PPh3均相催化体系的Rh/POC-DICP络合催化体系,并将其应用于氢甲酰化反应.相比于经典的Rh/PPh3均相催化体系,该Rh/POC-DICP催化体系在氢甲酰化反应中不仅展示出了更高的活性和目标产物醛的选择性(醛的化学选择性为97％,醛的正异构比为1.89),而且可以很方便地从均相反应体系中沉淀回收(通过调整溶剂体系极性).在氢甲酰化反应中,Rh/POC-DICP体系显示出了良好的底物适用性,在己烯、庚烯、辛烯和苯乙烯的氢甲酰化反应中均表现出良好的催化活性和醛选择性,同时催化剂回收使用4次,未见催化性能明显下降.X射线单晶衍射、同步辐射及DFT计算等结果表明,Rh/POC-DICP催化体系在氢甲酰化反应中具有较高活性和选择性的原因是POC-DICP多孔有机笼分子的有利的空间咬合角(123.88o)和P原子上相对的缺电子效应.本文设计合成的PPh3衍生的多孔有机笼不仅拓宽了多孔有机笼材料在催化领域的应用,而且为新型配体及络合催化剂的设计、合成及修饰提供了新的思路.     

Supramolecular engineering of intrinsic and extrinsic porosity in covalent organic cages

Control over pore size, shape, and connectivity in synthetic porous materials is important in applications such as separation, storage, and catalysis. Crystalline organic cage molecules can exhibit permanent porosity, but there are few synthetic methods to control the crystal packing and hence the pore connectivity. Typically, porosity is either 'intrinsic' (within the molecules) or 'extrinsic' (between the molecules)--but not both. We report a supramolecular approach to the assembly of porous organic cages which involves bulky directing groups that frustrate the crystal packing. This generates, in a synthetically designed fashion, additional 'extrinsic' porosity between the intrinsically porous cage units. One of the molecular crystals exhibits an apparent Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 854 m(2) g(-1), which is higher than that of unfunctionalized cages of the same dimensions. Moreover, connectivity between pores, and hence guest uptakes, can be modulated by the introduction of halogen bonding motifs in the cage modules. This suggests a broader approach to the supramolecular engineering of porosity in molecular organic crystals.     

Porous organic cage nanocrystals by solution mixing

We present here a simple method for the bottom-up fabrication of microporous organic particles with surface areas in the range 500-1000 m(2) g(-1). The method involves chiral recognition between prefabricated, intrinsically porous organic cage molecules that precipitate spontaneously upon mixing in solution. Fine control over particle size from 50 nm to 1 μm can be achieved by varying the mixing temperature or the rate of mixing. No surfactants or templates are required, and the resulting organic dispersions are stable for months. In this method, the covalent synthesis of the cage modules can be separated from their solution processing into particles because the modules can be dissolved in common solvents. This allows a "mix and match" approach to porous organic particles. The marked solubility change that occurs upon mixing cages with opposite chirality is rationalized by density functional theory calculations that suggest favorable intermolecular interactions for heterochiral cage pairings. The important contribution of molecular disorder to porosity and surface area is highlighted. In one case, a purposefully amorphized sample has more than twice the surface area of its crystalline analogue.     

Recent advances of application of porous molecular cages for enantioselective recognition and separation

Porous materials with well‐defined pore structures have received considerable attention in the past decades due to their unique structures and wide applications. Most porous materials such as zeolites, metal‐organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, and porous organic polymers are extended to infinite frameworks or networks by robust covalent or coordination bonds. Porous molecular cages composed of discrete molecules with permanent cavities are an emerging class of porous material and the discrete molecules assemble into solids by weak intermolecular interaction. In comparison to porous extended solids such as metal‐organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks, porous molecular cage solids are generally soluble in organic solvents thus allowing solution processing, making them more convenient to apply in many fields. This review mainly focuses on the recent advances of application of porous molecular cages (porous organic cages and metal‐organic cages) for enantioselective recognition and separation from 2010 to present, including gas chromatography, capillary electrochromatography, chiral fluorescent recognition, chiral potentiometric sensing, and enantioselective adsorption. Furthermore, the two important family members of porous molecular cages, porous organic cages and metal‐organic cages, are also discussed.     

Desymmetrized Vertex Design toward a Molecular Cage with Unusual Topology

A novel low-symmetry organic molecular cage with distinctive geometry was successfully synthesized from 5,5′-(propane-2,2-diyl)bis(2-hydroxyisophthalaldehyde) and 1,2-cyclohexanediamine building blocks, through the desymmetrized vertex design strategy. Single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis shows that the cage contains asymmetrical and nonplanar windows, exhibiting an unprecedented C₂ symmetry and an efficient packing. The molecular cage structure was also characterized by FTIR, NMR, and MALDI-TOF. Quantum chemistry studies show that the cage structure contains rare intramolecular hydrogen-hydrogen (C−H⋅⋅⋅H−C) bonding interactions. The cage crystals exhibit high iodine vapor uptake (3.78 g g⁻¹), which is among the highest for porous molecular materials. The knowledge gained in this study would open new possibilities for the design and synthesis of molecular cages with novel topologies targeting a broad range of applications.     

Oriented Two‐Dimensional Porous Organic Cage Crystals

The formation of two‐dimensional (2D) oriented porous organic cage crystals (consisting of imine‐based tetrahedral molecules) on various substrates (such as silicon wafers and glass) by solution‐processing is reported. Insight into the crystallinity, preferred orientation, and cage crystal growth was obtained by experimental and computational techniques. For the first time, structural defects in porous molecular materials were observed directly and the defect concentration could be correlated with crystal growth rate. These oriented crystals suggest potential for future applications, such as solution‐processable molecular crystalline 2D membranes for molecular separations.     

Transforming Porous Organic Cages into Porous Ionic Liquids via a Supramolecular Complexation Strategy

Porous liquids are a type of porous materials that engineer permanent porosity into unique flowing liquids, exhibiting promising functionalities for a variety of applications. Here a Type I porous liquid is synthesized by transforming porous organic cages into porous ionic liquids via a supramolecular complexation strategy. Simple physical mixing of 18‐crown‐6 with task‐specific anionic porous organic cages affords a porous ionic liquid with anionic porous organic cages as the anionic parts and 18‐crown‐6/potassium ion complexes as the cationic parts. In contrast, mixing of 15‐crown‐5 and anionic porous organic cages in a 2:1 ratio gives only solids, while the addition of excess 15‐crown‐5 affords a Type II porous liquid. The permanent porosity in the cage‐based porous liquids has been also confirmed by molecular simulation, positron (e⁺) annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, and enhanced gas sorption capacity compared with pure crown ethers.     

A homochiral porous organic cage with large cavity and pore windows for the efficient gas chromatography separation of enantiomers and positional isomers

Porous organic cages composed of discrete cage molecules have attracted considerable recent attention as gas adsorption materials and separation media. In this study, we report a homochiral porous organic cage CC5 with a large cavity and pore windows as a novel stationary phase for high‐resolution gas chromatographic separations. The capillary column was prepared by a static coating method. A large number of racemic compounds have been resolved on the coated capillary column, including derivatized amino acids, alcohols, alcohol amines, esters, ethers, ketones, and epoxides. It is interesting that the CC5‐coated capillary column exhibits significant chiral recognition complementarity to a commercial β‐DEX 120 column and a previously reported homochiral porous organic cage CC3‐R‐coated column, which could expand the range of the analytes amenable to separation on porous organic cage‐based capillary columns. Moreover, the fabricated column also shows excellent selectivity for the separation of positional isomers, including the challenging ethylbenzene and xylene isomers. Experimental results demonstrate an excellent separation performance and stability of the CC5‐coated column, making it promising for gas chromatography applications.     

Periphery‐Functionalized Porous Organic Cages

By synthesizing derivatives of a trans‐1,2‐diaminocyclohexane precursor, three new functionalized porous organic cages were prepared with different chemical functionalities on the cage periphery. The introduction of twelve methyl groups ( CC16 ) resulted in frustration of the cage packing mode, which more than doubled the surface area compared to the parent cage, CC3 . The analogous installation of twelve hydroxyl groups provided an imine cage ( CC17 ) that combines permanent porosity with the potential for post‐synthetic modification of the cage exterior. Finally, the incorporation of bulky dihydroethanoanthracene groups was found to direct self‐assembly towards the formation of a larger [8+12] cage, rather than the expected [4+6], cage molecule ( CC18 ). However, CC18 was found to be non‐porous, most likely due to cage collapse upon desolvation.     

A Permanent Mesoporous Organic Cage with an Exceptionally High Surface Area

Recently, porous organic cage crystals have become a real alternative to extended framework materials with high specific surface areas in the desolvated state. Although major progress in this area has been made, the resulting porous compounds are restricted to the microporous regime, owing to the relatively small molecular sizes of the cages, or the collapse of larger structures upon desolvation. Herein, we present the synthesis of a shape‐persistent cage compound by the reversible formation of 24 boronic ester units of 12 triptycene tetraol molecules and 8 triboronic acid molecules. The cage compound bears a cavity of a minimum inner diameter of 2.6 nm and a maximum inner diameter of 3.1 nm, as determined by single‐crystal X‐ray analysis. The porous molecular crystals could be activated for gas sorption by removing enclathrated solvent molecules, resulting in a mesoporous material with a very high specific surface area of 3758 m² g^?1 and a pore diameter of 2.3 nm, as measured by nitrogen gas sorption.     

Covalent Organic Frameworks and Cage Compounds: Design and Applications of Polymeric and Discrete Organic Scaffolds

Porous organic materials are an emerging class of functional nanostructures with unprecedented properties. Dynamic covalent assembly of small organic building blocks under thermodynamic control is utilized for the intriguingly simple formation of complex molecular architectures in one‐pot procedures. In this Review, we aim to analyze the basic design principles that govern the formation of either covalent organic frameworks as crystalline porous polymers or covalent organic cage compounds as shape‐persistent molecular objects. Common synthetic procedures and characterization techniques will be discussed as well as more advanced strategies such as postsynthetic modification or self‐sorting. When appropriate, comparisons are drawn between polymeric frameworks and discrete organic cages in terms of their underlying properties. Furthermore, we highlight the potential of these materials for applications ranging from gas storage to catalysis and organic electronics.     

Selective gas sorption in a [2+3] 'propeller' cage crystal

A [2+3] organic cage compound based on the condensation reaction of 1,3,5-tri(4-formylphenyl)benzene with 1,5-pentanediamine was synthesized. The resulting porous molecular crystal demonstrates selective adsorption of hydrogen and carbon dioxide over nitrogen. As for porous polymer membranes, a trade-off between sorption capacity and selectivity is observed for materials in this class.     

Porphyrin Boxes: Rationally Designed Porous Organic Cages

The porphyrin boxes ( PB‐1 and PB‐2 ), which are rationally designed porous organic cages with a large cavity using well‐defined and rigid 3‐connected triangular and 4‐connected square shaped building units are reported. PB‐1 has a cavity as large as 1.95 nm in diameter and shows high chemical stability in a broad pH range (4.8 to 13) in aqueous media. The crystalline nature as well as cavity structure of the shape‐persistent organic cage crystals were intact even after complete removal of guest molecules, leading to one of the highest surface areas (1370 m²g^?1) among the known porous organic molecular solids. The size of the cavities and windows of the porous organic cages can be modulated using different sized building units while maintaining the topology of the cages, as illustrated with PB‐2 . Interestingly, PB‐2 crystals showed unusual N₂ sorption isotherms as well as high selectivity for CO₂ over N₂ and CH₄ (201 and 47.9, respectively at 273 K at 1 bar).     

衍生多孔碳材料在固相微萃取中的应用研究进展

固相微萃取是一种集采样、萃取、富集和进样于一体的样品前处理技术,其萃取效果与涂层材料密切相关。多孔碳材料具有比表面积大、多孔结构可控、活性位点多和化学稳定性好等优点,广泛应用于电池、超级电容器、催化、吸附和分离等领域,也是一种热门的用作固相微萃取探针的涂层材料。衍生多孔碳材料因种类丰富、可设计性强被广泛研究,研究主要集中在对衍生多孔碳材料的结构优化方面。但是衍生多孔碳材料在固相微萃取中的应用还存在如下问题:(1)共价有机框架衍生多孔碳材料的制备已取得较大进展,但将其应用于固相微萃取领域的研究仍较少;(2)有待进一步明确制备出的衍生多孔碳材料用作固相微萃取涂层表现出优异提取能力的机理;(3)有待进一步深入研究将衍生多孔碳材料用作固相微萃取涂层以实现对不同物理化学性质污染物的广谱高灵敏度分析。文章综述了近3年衍生多孔碳材料在固相微萃取中的应用研究,并展望了未来衍生多孔碳材料在固相微萃取中的研究前景。引用文献共56篇,主要来源于Elsevier。     

A Mixed Molecular Building Block Strategy for the Design of Nested Polyhedron Metal–Organic Frameworks

A mixed molecular building block (MBB) strategy for the synthesis of double‐walled cage‐based porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is presented. By means of this method, two isostructural porous MOFs built from unprecedented double‐walled metal–organic octahedron were obtained by introducing two size‐matching C₃‐symmetric molecular building blocks with different rigidities. With their unique framework structures, these MOFs provide, to the best of our knowledge, the first examples of double‐walled octahedron‐based MOFs.     

金属有机骨架材料MIL-101及其改性材料去除环境污染物的研究进展

目前我国水环境以及空气面临着严峻的污染形势,许多危害人身体健康的污染物亟待治理。 金属有机骨架作为目前新兴的多孔材料,具有高孔隙率、高比表面积、结构可调性以及不饱和金属位点等特点。 这使得金属有机骨架材料具有一定的环境污染物去除能力。 围绕对苯二甲酸铬金属有机骨架材料(MIL-101)及其功能化修饰的改性材料的结构信息展开,总结了材料的主要合成方法,对功能化修饰的方法和原理进行分析,重点分析了这种材料在环境污染物去除等方面的应用研究进展,包括它在重金属离子、农药、抗生素、有机染料、碘离子等污染物的吸附处理领域的应用, 以及在污染物的监测和环境风险预警方面的应用潜力。 指出了材料在制备成本、反复利用次数、污染物后续处理等方面仍然存在的问题。     

Simultaneous Organic and Inorganic Host-Guest Chemistry within Pillararene-Protein Cage Frameworks

Supramolecular self-assembly of biomolecules provides a powerful bottom-up strategy to build functional nanostructures and materials. Among the different biomacromolecules, protein cages offer various advantages including uniform size, versatility, multi-modularity, and high stability. Additionally, protein cage crystals present confined microenvironments with well-defined dimensions. On the other hand, molecular hosts, such as cyclophanes, possess a defined cavity size and selective recognition of guest molecules. However, the successful combination of macrocycles and protein cages to achieve functional co-crystals has remained limited. In this study, we demonstrate electrostatic binding between cationic pillar[5]arenes and (apo)ferritin cages that results in porous and crystalline frameworks. The electrostatically assembled crystals present a face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice and have been characterized by means of small-angle X-ray scattering and cryo-TEM. These hierarchical structures result in a multiadsorbent framework capable of hosting both organic and inorganic pollutants, such as dyes and toxic metals, with potential application in water-remediation technologies.     

How does a double-cage single molecule confine an excess electron? Unusual intercage excess electron transfer transition

To realize the chemistry of a multicage organic molecule with excess electron, as a model, by confining an excess electron inside a double-cage single molecule, the structures of e?@C??F??(NH)?C??F?? (e?@AB) and e?@C??F??(NH)?C??F?? (e?@BB') are obtained at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) + 4s4p theory level. It is confirmed that the excess electron is mainly confined inside one cage with larger interior electronic attractive potential (A for e?@AB and B for e?@BB') in the ground state, while the electron is localized in the other one in the first excited state. Owing to such excess electron localizations, an interesting intercage excess electron transfer transition takes places. This intercage excess electron transfer transition exhibits five characteristics: (1) the excess electron transfer from one cage to another (A → B for e?@AB and B → B' for e?@BB′'); (2) the transition is between the ground and first excited state; (3) the wavelength and strength are the largest; (4) the transition accompanies a significant charge transfer (Δq > 0.8) and molecular dipole moment change (Δμ > 20 D); (5) the transition corresponds to SOMO → LUMO. For the transition, the oscillator strength is larger and the wavelength is shorter for the asymmetric structure (e?@AB) than for the symmetric one (e?@BB'), which indicates that the intercage excess electron transfer transition may be regulated by changing the size of cage. This work is useful for the designs of organic electronic sponges (porous organic electrides), organic conductor with excess electrons, and photoelectric and nanoelectronic devices.