Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Heterogeneous Catalysis

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are a class of crosslinked polymers that combine permanent micropores with π‐conjugated skeletons and possess three‐dimensional (3D) networks. Compared with conventional materials such as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs), CMPs usually have superior chemical and thermal stability. CMPs have made significant progress in heterogeneous catalysis in the past seven years. With a bottom‐up strategy, catalytic moieties can be directly introduced into in the framework to produce heterogeneous CMP catalysts. Higher activity, stability, and selectivity can be obtained with heterogeneous CMP catalysts in comparison with their homogeneous analogs. In addition, CMP catalysts can be easily isolated and recycled. In this review, we focus on CMPs as an intriguing platform for developing various highly efficient and recyclable heterogeneous catalysts in organic reactions. The design, synthesis, and structure of these CMP catalysts are also discussed in this focus review.     

Reversible Doping of a Dithienothiophene‐Based Conjugated Microporous Polymer

Dithienothiophene (DTT) based conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) were synthesized by bulk and electrochemical oxidative polymerizations. Spectroelectrochemical measurements showed that DTT‐CMP can be reversibly oxidized and reduced, accompanied by a significant change of the absorption properties making the material interesting for electrochromic devices. Reversible doping and dedoping of the bulk polymer network was also observed using iodine and ammonia, respectively. Nitrogen gas sorption measurements of the neutral, doped, and dedoped polymer networks indicated the presence of iodide species within the pores, and the conductivity of the networks is highly increased upon doping with iodine. The introduction of the strong electron donor DTT into a conjugated porous network, and the ability for redox switching, make DTT‐CMPs interesting materials for organo(opto)electronic devices and sensors.     

Controlled Synthesis of Conjugated Microporous Polymer Films: Versatile Platforms for Highly Sensitive and Label‐Free Chemo‐ and Biosensing

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs), in which rigid building blocks form robust networks, are usually synthesized as insoluble and unprocessable powders. We developed a methodology using electropolymerization for the synthesis of thin CMP films. The thickness of these films is synthetically controllable, ranging from nanometers to micrometers, and they are obtained on substrates or as freestanding films. The CMP films combine a number of striking physical properties, including high porosity, extended π conjugation, facilitated exciton delocalization, and high‐rate electron transfer. We explored the CMP films as versatile platforms for highly sensitive and label‐free chemo‐ and biosensing of electron‐rich and electron‐poor arenes, metal ions, dopamine, and hypochloroic acid, featuring rapid response, excellent selectivity, and robust reusability.     

Synthesis of π‐conjugated network polymers based on fluoroarene and fluorescent units via direct arylation polycondensation and their porosity and fluorescent properties

In this study, we report the synthesis of π‐conjugated network polymers including unique fluorescent units via palladium‐catalyzed direct (C? H) arylation polycondensation of 1,2,4,5‐tetrafluorobenzene with tetrabromoarenes. The obtained polymers, including tetraphenylethene (TPE) or pyrene (PYR) units, had microporous structures with the specific Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas at 508 and 824 m² g^?1, respectively. These polymers possessed narrow pore distributions (<15 nm). These analyses supported that π‐conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) were synthesized by the direct arylation. Similar to the result of BET surface areas, carbon capture capacity of CMP based on PYR unit was higher than that of CMP based on TPE unit. Because the nitrogen capture capacity of these CMPs was low (≈ 0), selectivity of carbon dioxide adsorption was very high. TPE is a typical aggregation‐induced emission unit but PYR is an aggregation‐caused quenching (ACQ) molecule. The incorporation of TPE unit into the microporous polymer gave green‐colored fluorescence (Φ = 0.12). The polymer including PYR units also showed the green‐colored fluorescence (Φ = 0.05) even though the ACQ property. These synthesized CMPs exhibited characteristic solvatofluorochromism. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 3862–3867     

Ferrocene‐Linkage‐Facilitated Charge Separation in Conjugated Microporous Polymers

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have full access to the organic synthesis toolbox and feature‐rich functionality, structural diversity, and high surface area. We incorporated ferrocene (Fc) into the backbones of CMPs and systematically engineered their optical energy gaps. Compared with the CMPs without Fc units yet adopting a similar molecular orbital level, Fc‐based CMPs can sufficiently generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) under visible light. The resultant ROS are able to effectively decompose the absorbed pollutants, including organic dyes and chemical warfare agents. Specifically, Fc‐based CMPs significantly outperform commercial TiO₂ (P25) in the degradation of methylene blue and are capable of converting 2‐chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (a mustard gas simulant) into a completely nontoxic product.     

Probing Mass Transfer in Mesoporous Faujasite‐Type Zeolite Nanosheet Assemblies

Pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) diffusion studies are performed by using cyclohexane to probe transport properties in a NaX‐type zeolite with a hierarchical pore structure (house‐of‐cards‐like assemblies of mesoporous nanosheets), which is compared with a purely microporous sample. With guest loadings chosen to ensure saturation of the micropores, and the meso‐ and macropores left essentially unoccupied, guest diffusion is shown to be enhanced by almost one order of magnitude, even at room temperature. Diffusivity enhancement is further increased with increasing temperature, which may, therefore, be unambiguously attributed to the contribution of mass transfer in the meso‐ and macropores.     

Effective and Selective Catalysts for Cinnamaldehyde Hydrogenation: Hydrophobic Hybrids of Metal–Organic Frameworks,Metal Nanoparticles,and Micro‐ and Mesoporous Polymers

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as selectivity regulators for catalytic reactions have attracted much attention, especially MOFs and metal nanoparticle (NP) shelled structures, e.g., MOFs@NPs@MOFs. Nevertheless, making hydrophilic MOF shells for gathering hydrophobic reactants is challenging. Described here is a new and viable approach employing conjugated micro‐ and mesoporous polymers with iron(III) porphyrin (FeP‐CMPs) as a new shell to fabricate MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP. It is not only hydrophobic and porous for enriching reactants, but also possesses iron sites to activate C=O bonds, thereby regulating the selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. Interestingly, MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP^sponge can achieve a high turnover frequency ( 1516.1 h⁻¹), with 97.3 % selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol at 97.6 % conversion.     

Effective and Selective Catalysts for Cinnamaldehyde Hydrogenation: Hydrophobic Hybrids of Metal–Organic Frameworks,Metal Nanoparticles,and Micro‐ and Mesoporous Polymers

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as selectivity regulators for catalytic reactions have attracted much attention, especially MOFs and metal nanoparticle (NP) shelled structures, e.g., MOFs@NPs@MOFs. Nevertheless, making hydrophilic MOF shells for gathering hydrophobic reactants is challenging. Described here is a new and viable approach employing conjugated micro‐ and mesoporous polymers with iron(III) porphyrin (FeP‐CMPs) as a new shell to fabricate MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP. It is not only hydrophobic and porous for enriching reactants, but also possesses iron sites to activate C=O bonds, thereby regulating the selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. Interestingly, MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP^sponge can achieve a high turnover frequency ( 1516.1 h^?1), with 97.3 % selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol at 97.6 % conversion.     

Metal Phthalocyanine‐Porphyrin‐based Conjugated Microporous Polymer‐derived Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Zn‐Air Batteries

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) as emerging porous materials with diverse structures and tunable building‐units have attracted much attention in the electrochemical field. Herein, we designed phthalocyanine‐porphyrin‐based conjugated microporous polymers as precursors for fabrication of Co, Fe, N tri‐doped graphene composites towards oxygen reduction and evolution reaction (ORR/OER). As expected, the elements cobalt and iron are well dispersed in graphene carbon and interact with the nitrogen sites, thereby providing extra electrocatalytic active sites and enhancing its overall conductivity. Benefiting from its unique design and structure, the obtained catalyst affords a superior bifunctional catalytic activity with a positive onset potential of 0.957 V for ORR, and a low overpotential of 0.36 V for OER. More attractively, the CoFeNG is employed as an air cathode catalyst in Zn‐air batteries, showing a maximum current density of 215 mA cm^?2 and good cycle stability for 20000 s. The rational design of phthalocyanine‐porphyrin‐based derivatives provides a feasible route for the construction of high‐performance ORR/OER catalysts.     

Reverse Engineering of Conjugated Microporous Polymers: Defect Structures of Tetrakis(4‐ethynylphenyl)stannane Networks

Two different conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) based on tetrakis(4‐ethynylphenyl)stannane as the repeating unit were synthesized and their BET surfaces and thermal properties were investigated. The first direct method to elucidate the molecular structure of the organic linkers between the tin centers by digestion of the CMP is described. Selective cleavage of the tin–carbon bonds with chloroacetic acid afforded the isolated bridging units and provided insight into the surprisingly varied chemical composition of these networks.     

Regulating Charge-Transfer in Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Bandgap engineering in donor–acceptor conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) is a potential way to increase the solar-energy harvesting towards photochemical water splitting. Here, the design and synthesis of a series of donor–acceptor CMPs [tetraphenylethylene (TPE) and 9-fluorenone (F) as the donor and the acceptor, respectively], F_0.1CMP , F_0.5CMP , and F_2.0CMP , are reported. These CMPs exhibited tunable bandgaps and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from water. The donor–acceptor CMPs exhibited also intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) absorption in the visible region (λ_max=480 nm) and their bandgap was finely tuned from 2.8 to 2.1 eV by increasing the 9-fluorenone content. Interestingly, they also showed emissions in the 540–580 nm range assisted by the energy transfer from the other TPE segments (not involved in charge-transfer interactions), as evidenced from fluorescence lifetime decay analysis. By increasing the 9-fluorenone content the emission color of the polymer was also tuned from green to red. Photocatalytic activities of the donor–acceptor CMPs ( F_0.1CMP , F_0.5CMP , and F_2.0CMP ) are greatly enhanced compared to the 9-fluorenone free polymer ( F_0.0CMP ), which is essentially due to improved visible-light absorption and low bandgap of donor–acceptor CMPs. Among all the polymers F_0.5CMP with an optimum bandgap (2.3 eV) showed the highest H₂ evolution under visible-light irradiation. Moreover, all polymers showed excellent dispersibility in organic solvents and easy coated on the solid substrates.     

Tunable Surface Area,Porosity, and Function in Conjugated Microporous Polymers

Simple inorganic salts are used to tune N‐containing conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) synthesized by Buchwald–Hartwig (BH) cross‐coupling reactions. Poly(triphenylamine), PTPA, initially shows a broad distribution of micropores, mesopores, and macropores. However, the addition of inorganic salts affects all porous network properties significantly: the pore size distribution is narrowed to the microporous range only, mimicking COFs and MOFs; the BET surface area is radically improved from 58 m² g^?1 to 1152 m² g^?1; and variations of the anion and cation sizes are used to fine‐tune the surface area of PTPA, with the surface area showing a gradual decrease with an increase in the ionic radius of salts. The effect of the salt on the physical properties of the polymer is attributed to adjusting and optimizing the Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) of solvents for the growing polymer, and named the Beijing–Xi'an Jiaotong (BXJ) method.     

Tunable Surface Area,Porosity, and Function in Conjugated Microporous Polymers

Simple inorganic salts are used to tune N‐containing conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) synthesized by Buchwald–Hartwig (BH) cross‐coupling reactions. Poly(triphenylamine), PTPA, initially shows a broad distribution of micropores, mesopores, and macropores. However, the addition of inorganic salts affects all porous network properties significantly: the pore size distribution is narrowed to the microporous range only, mimicking COFs and MOFs; the BET surface area is radically improved from 58 m² g^?1 to 1152 m² g^?1; and variations of the anion and cation sizes are used to fine‐tune the surface area of PTPA, with the surface area showing a gradual decrease with an increase in the ionic radius of salts. The effect of the salt on the physical properties of the polymer is attributed to adjusting and optimizing the Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) of solvents for the growing polymer, and named the Beijing–Xi'an Jiaotong (BXJ) method.     

Preparation of microporous polymer-encapsulated Pd nanoparticles and their catalytic performance for hydrogenation and oxidation

Palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) encapsulated by conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) were prepared by the Pd-catalyzed polymerization followed by a thermal treatment with N₂ or H₂. The Pd catalysts were embedded in the porous network during polymerization and used as a precursor for the generation of Pd NPs in CMP. Although no Pd NPs were formed in the as-synthesized Pd/CMPs, Pd NPs with 1.6–3.5 nm size were formed after the thermal treatment. The obtained Pd/CMP-N₂ and -H₂ catalysts were highly selective in the hydrogenation of 4-nitrostyrene to 4-ethylnitrobenzene, whereas Pd NPs supported on carbon (Ketjen black) gave a fully reduced product, 4-ethylaniline. Substituents in CMP framework could change the catalytic activity of Pd NPs; hydroxy-substituted CMP encapsulated Pd NPs showed higher catalytic activity than Pd/CMP-H₂ for benzyl alcohol oxidation.     

共轭微孔聚合物及其复合材料的制备及应用

共轭微孔聚合物是一类具有扩展共轭体系的骨架材料,具有比表面积大、稳定性高、微孔大小和体积可精确调控等特点。由于其独特的结构特点,共轭微孔聚合物在各方面展现出巨大的应用潜力,本文综述了共轭微孔聚合物及复合材料的制备方法,以及共轭微孔聚合物在气体吸附和储存、污染物的富集、非均相催化、光发射、化学传感器、光捕集、电能存储等方面的应用。     

Ultrastable Conjugated Microporous Polymers Containing Benzobisthiadiazole and Pyrene Building Blocks for Energy Storage Applications

In recent years, conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) have become important precursors for environmental and energy applications, compared with inorganic electrode materials, due to their ease of preparation, facile charge storage process, π-conjugated structures, relatively high thermal and chemical stability, abundance in nature, and high surface areas. Therefore, in this study, we designed and prepared new benzobisthiadiazole (BBT)-linked CMPs (BBT–CMPs) using a simple Sonogashira couplings reaction by reaction of 4,8-dibromobenzo(1,2-c;4,5-c′)bis(1,2,5)thiadiazole (BBT–Br₂) with ethynyl derivatives of triphenylamine (TPA-T), pyrene (Py-T), and tetraphenylethene (TPE-T), respectively, to afford TPA–BBT–CMP, Py–BBT–CMP, and TPE–BBT–CMP. The chemical structure and properties of BBT–CMPs such as surface areas, pore size, surface morphologies, and thermal stability using different measurements were discussed in detail. Among the studied BBT–CMPs, we revealed that TPE–BBT–CMP displayed high degradation temperature, up to 340 °C, with high char yield and regular, aggregated sphere based on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Furthermore, the Py–BBT–CMP as organic electrode showed an outstanding specific capacitance of 228 F g⁻¹ and superior capacitance stability of 93.2% (over 2000 cycles). Based on theoretical results, an important role of BBT–CMPs, due to their electronic structure, was revealed to be enhancing the charge storage. Furthermore, all three CMP polymers featured a high conjugation system, leading to improved electron conduction and small bandgaps.     

Molecular‐Sieving Membrane by Partitioning the Channels in Ultrafiltration Membrane by In Situ Polymerization

Commercial ultrafiltration membranes have proliferated globally for water treatment. However, their pore sizes are too large to sieve gases. Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) feature well‐developed microporosity yet are difficult to be fabricated into membranes. Herein, we report a strategy to prepare molecular‐sieving membranes by partitioning the mesoscopic channels in water ultrafiltration membrane (PSU) into ultra‐micropores by space‐confined polymerization of multi‐functionalized rigid building units. Nine CMP@PSU membranes were obtained, and their separation performance for H₂/CO₂, H₂/N₂, and H₂/CH₄ pairs surpass the Robeson upper bound and rival against the best of those reported membranes. Furthermore, highly crosslinked skeletons inside the channels result in the structural robustness and transfer into the excellent aging resistance of the CMP@PSU. This strategy may shed light on the design and fabrication of high‐performance polymeric gas separation membranes.     

Knitting N‐doped Hierarchical Porous Polymers to Stabilize Ultra‐small Pd Nanoparticles for Solvent‐Free Catalysis

Hierarchical porous polymers with more than one pore size distributions can effectively support noble metal catalysts and circumvent the limitation of the diffusion of the reactants, and thus exhibit both excellent catalytic activity and superior diffusive properties. Herein, we report a simple one‐step Friedel–Crafts reaction to knit a series of benzene heterocycle monomers, such as indane, indoline, indole and tetrahydronaphthalene to obtain hierarchical porous polymers with high surface areas and/or abundant N sites. These polymers can be directly used to immobilize Pd ions, and stabilize Pd nanoparticles during the thermal reduction process to obtain Pd/polymer catalysts. In particular, indoline‐ and indole‐based polymers with high N content up to 7 wt % exhibit outstanding ability to stabilize uniform ultrasmall Pd nanoparticles. The obtained Pd‐polymers exhibit excellent catalytic activity in the solvent‐free oxidation of benzyl alcohol with O₂.     

Metallophthalocyanine‐Based Conjugated Microporous Polymers as Highly Efficient Photosensitizers for Singlet Oxygen Generation

Singlet oxygen (¹O₂) is of great interest because of its potential applications in photodynamic therapy, photooxidation of toxic molecules, and photochemical synthesis. Herein, we report novel metallophthalocyanine (MPc) based conjugated microporous polymers (MPc‐CMPs) as photosensitizers for the generation of ¹O₂. The rigid microporous structure efficiently improves the exposure of the majority of the MPc units to oxygen. The MPc‐CMPs also exhibit an enhanced light‐harvesting capability in the far‐red region through their extended π‐conjugation systems. Their microporous structure and excellent absorption capability for long‐wavelength photons result in the MPc‐CMPs showing high efficiency for ¹O₂ generation upon irradiation with 700 nm light, as evident by using 1,3‐diphenylisobenzofuran as an ¹O₂ trap. These results indicate that MPc‐CMPs can be considered as promising photosensitizers for the generation of ¹O₂.     

Triple‐Helix‐Stabilizing Effects in Collagen Model Peptides Containing PPII‐Helix‐Preorganized Diproline Modules

Collagen model peptides (CMPs) serve as tools for understanding stability and function of the collagen triple helix and have a potential for biomedical applications. In the past, interstrand cross‐linking or conformational preconditioning of proline units through stereoelectronic effects have been utilized in the design of stabilized CMPs. To further study the effects determining collagen triple helix stability we investigated a series of CMPs containing synthetic diproline‐mimicking modules (ProMs), which were preorganized in a PPII‐helix‐type conformation by a functionalizable intrastrand C₂ bridge. Results of CD‐based denaturation studies were correlated with calculated (DFT) conformational preferences of the ProM units, revealing that the relative helix stability is mainly governed by an interplay of main‐chain preorganization, ring‐flip preference, adaptability, and steric effects. Triple helix integrity was proven by crystal structure analysis and binding to HSP47.