Evaluation of the adsorption free energy of light guest molecules in nanoporous host structures

We present a simple method for estimation of the adsorption free energy of lightweight featureless molecules in nanoporous structures. The partition function of the system is computed quantum mechanically within the ideal gas approximation, and leads directly to the free adsorption energy. Storage capacities can be estimated by combining the ideal gas results with the real gas equation of state. Two possible implementations of the approach are discussed. The assumptions and potential sources of errors in the calculations are analyzed. The performance of the method is illustrated for graphitic slit pores and solid C60.     

Bilayer vesicles of amphiphilic cyclodextrins: host membranes that recognize guest molecules

A family of amphiphilic cyclodextrins (6, 7) has been prepared through 6-S-alkylation (alkyl=n-dodecyl and n-hexadecyl) of the primary side and 2-O-PEGylation of the secondary side of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins (PEG=poly(ethylene glycol)). These cyclodextrins form nonionic bilayer vesicles in aqueous solution. The bilayer vesicles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, dye encapsulation, and capillary electrophoresis. The molecular packing of the amphiphilic cyclodextrins was investigated by using small-angle X-ray diffraction of bilayers deposited on glass and pressure-area isotherms obtained from Langmuir monolayers on the air-water interface. The bilayer thickness is dependent on the chain length, whereas the average molecular surface area scales with the cyclodextrin ring size. The alkyl chains of the cyclodextrins in the bilayer are deeply interdigitated. Molecular recognition of a hydrophobic anion (adamantane carboxylate) by the cyclodextrin vesicles was investigated by using capillary electrophoresis, thereby exploiting the increase in electrophoretic mobility that occurs when the hydrophobic anions bind to the nonionic cyclodextrin vesicles. It was found that in spite of the presence of oligo(ethylene glycol) substituents, the beta-cyclodextrin vesicles retain their characteristic affinity for adamantane carboxylate (association constant K(a)=7.1 x 10(3) M(-1)), whereas gamma-cyclodextrin vesicles have less affinity (K(a)=3.2 x 10(3) M(-1)), and alpha-cyclodextrin or non-cyclodextrin, nonionic vesicles have very little affinity (K(a) approximately 100 M(-1)). Specific binding of the adamantane carboxylate to beta-cyclodextrin vesicles was also evident in competition experiments with beta-cyclodextrin in solution. Hence, the cyclodextrin vesicles can function as host bilayer membranes that recognize small guest molecules by specific noncovalent interaction.     

Orientational control of guest molecules in an organic intercalation system by host polymer tacticity

Four kinds of stereoregular poly(muconic acid)s, which are synthesized by topochemical polymerization and subsequent solid-state hydrolysis, are used as the organic host materials for intercalation. We describe the reaction behavior and layered structure of intercalation compounds using stereoregular poly(muconic acid)s and n-alkylamines as host and guest, respectively. The packing structure of the guest alkylamines was determined by X-ray diffractions as well as IR and Raman spectroscopies. We have found that the orientation of the guest molecules is controlled by the host polymer tacticity, depending on the structure of the two-dimensional hydrogen-bonding network formed in the polymer sheets of the crystals.     

Structural diversity in 4,4'-trimethylenedipyridine-zinc phosphite hybrids: incorporation of neutral guest molecules in hybrid materials

Six new zinc phosphite hybrids are prepared under a variety of reaction conditions from the primary building blocks, trimethylenedipyridine, zinc acetate, and phosphorous acid. Neutral guest molecules are incorporated into several of the structures. Under hydrothermal conditions at 130 degrees C, an anionic framework structure, 1, templated on trimethylenedipyridinium, is obtained while a neutral ladder structure, 2, is formed at room temperature. These reactions are done at an initial pH of 4.7-5.0. When the reaction is done at an initial pH of 7.8-8.0, a neutral layered motif is obtained with 1,3-dipyridylpropane pillars and neutral guests in the interstitial space. Structures with water, phenol, and catechol as the guests, compounds 3, 4, and 5, respectively, are reported. The use of catechol as a template results in the breakup of the ZnPO sheet structure common to both 3 and 4. When amino acids, including alanine, were added to the reaction medium, a neutral three-dimensional framework, 6, is obtained with no incorporation of the potential template. The syntheses and structures of these new materials are reported.     

Two new coordination host frameworks for the inclusion of 4-amino-benzophenone guest molecules

The synthesis and structural characterization of novel organometallic coordination polymers are reported. The reaction of Cd(NO₃)₂ and 4,4′-bipy in CH₃OH/H₂O gave a 2D coordination network formulated as {[Cd(4,4′-bpy)₂·(H₂O)₂](NO₃)₂·4H₂O}¹⁰, which was used to capture an organic guest species (4-amino-benezopheone, C₁₃H₁₁NO (3)) to obtain {[Cd(4,4′-bpy)₂(NO₃)(H₂O)]·NO₃·(C₁₃H₁₁NO)₂} (1). Using L (L=4,4′-trimethylenedipyridine) instead of 4,4′-bipy, {[Cd(L)₂(H₂O)₂]·2H₂O·2NO₃·C₁₃H₁₁NO} (2) was synthesized, which has an interesting configuration.     

Analysis of guest molecules in clathrasils

Species included in clathrasils have been analyzed by quantitative IR spectroscopy. In the case of dodecasil 3C, with benzene or piperidine as guest molecules, results showed that only one out of 16 or 8 suitable cavities in the clathrasil structure is occupied. This means that a very low quantity of template molecules is sufficient for the crystal growth.     

Structural and dynamical properties of guest molecules confined in mesoporous silica materials revealed by NMR

In the last fifteen years several novel porous silica materials, which are periodically structured on the mesoscopic length scale, have been synthesized. They are of broad interest for fundamental studies of surface-substrate interactions, for studies of the dynamics of guest molecules in confinement and for studies of the effect of confinement on the structural and thermophysical properties of fluids. Examples of such confinement effects include the change of the freezing and melting points or glass transitions of the confined liquids. These effects are studied by combinations of several NMR techniques, such as (15)N- and (2)H-solid-state NMR line shape analysis, MAS NMR and NMR diffusometry with physico-chemical characterization techniques such as nitrogen adsorption and small angle diffraction of neutrons or X-rays. This combination does not require crystalline samples or special clean and well defined surfaces such as conventional surface science techniques, but can work with typical ill-defined real world systems. The review discusses, after a short introduction, the salient features of these materials and the applied NMR experiments to give the reader a basic knowledge of the systems and the experiments. The rest of the review then focuses on the structural and dynamical properties of guest molecules confined in the mesoporous silica. It is shown that the confinement into the pores leads to fascinating new features of the guests, which are often not known for their bulk phases. These features depend strongly on the interplay of the their interactions with the silica surface and their mutual interactions.     

Formation and structural,energetic and dynamic properties of cyclodextrin host tubes and included guest molecules

Experimental data about 3D arrangements and building modes of cyclodextrin (CD) tubes are scarce, though investigations of such assemblies are particularly interesting for a vast array of applications related to organic tubes in general. Opting for a theoretical approach, we studied the organisation of CD tubes by three schemes: a structural examination of geometries from the Cambridge Structural Database, simulated annealing studies based on classical force fields to evaluate the stability of tubular arrangements, and an incremental construction procedure of the tubes by molecular dynamics. For β-CDs, the investigations pointed to a head-to-head configuration, while γ-CDs favoured a head-to-head+tail-to-head triplet. The position and interactions of water molecules inside the obtained tubular arrangements were studied as well. Various complexes for diphenylpolyenes and styrene included in the β- and γ-CDs tubes were considered and compared based on structural, energetic and dynamic criteria.     

Formation of ionic associates from oppositely charged calix[4]resorcinarene host molecules in the presence of guest molecules

The conditions for the formation and existence of capsular dimeric associates in a solution were studied. The associates are formed by the oppositely charged resorcinarene derivatives (tetrakis(dimethylaminomethyl)calix[4]resorcinarene hydrochloride and tetrakis(sulfonato- methyl)calix[4]resorcinarene). Possibilities of formation of a capsule in the presence of the molecules giving inclusion complexes with one of the macrocycles were considered. Switching between two states “capsular associate—mixture of original macrocycless” is achieved by controlling the ionic strength of the solution. The interaction of the host—guest complexes with complementary resorcinarene leads to capsular associate closure with the synchronous displacement of the guest molecules into the aqueous solution bulk.     

Control of release properties of guest molecules by the type of benzoheterocyclic ring in supramolecular host complexes

Three types of supramolecular benzoheterocyclic host complexes were successfully prepared using (1R,2S)-2-amino-1,2-diphenylethanol and three types of benzoheterocyclic (benzothiophene, benzofuran, and benzopyrrole) acid derivatives. The host complexes had one-dimensional (1D) channel-like cavities that were formed by the assembly of two-component 2₁-helical columnar network structures, which included guest alcohol molecules. The release behavior of the guest molecules could be tuned by the type of heterocyclic ring in the supramolecular host complex.     

Toward efficient nanoporous catalysts: controlling site-isolation and concentration of grafted catalytic sites on nanoporous materials with solvents and colorimetric elucidation of their site-isolation

We report that the polarity and dielectric constants of solvents used for grafting organosilanes on mesoporous materials strongly affect the concentration of grafted organic groups, the degree of their site-isolation, and the catalytic properties of the resulting materials. Polar and nonpolar organosilanes as well as polar-protic, dipolar-aprotic, and nonpolar solvents were investigated. Polar-protic solvents, which have high dielectric constants, resulted in smaller concentrations ( approximately 1-2 mmol/g) of polar organic groups such as 3-aminopropyl groups, higher surface area materials, site-isolated organic groups, and more efficient catalytic properties toward the Henry reaction of p-hydroxybenzaldehyde with nitromethane. On the other hand, dipolar-aprotic and nonpolar solvents resulted in larger concentrations ( approximately 2-3 mmol/g) of grafted polar functional groups, lower-to-higher surface area materials, more densely populated catalytic groups, and poor-to-efficient catalytic properties toward the Henry reaction. Both the polar-protic and dipolar-aprotic solvents resulted in significantly lower concentration of grafted groups for nonpolar organosilanes such as (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane compared to corresponding grafting of the polar amino-organosilanes. The relationship between the solvent properties and the percentage and degree of site-isolation of the grafted functional groups was attributed to differences in solvation of the organosilanes and silanols in various solvents and possible hydrogen-bonding between the organsilanes and the solvents. The degree of site-isolation of the amine groups, which affect the material's catalytic properties, was elucidated by a new colorimetric method involving probing of the absorption maxima (lambdamax) on the d-d electronic spectrum of Cu2+ complexes with the amine-functionalized materials and the colors of the samples. The absorption lambdamax and the colors of the materials were found to be uniquely dependent on the type of solvents used for grafting the organoamines. For instance, the monoamine- and diamine-functionalized samples grafted in methanol resulted in pale blue and light purple colors with lambdamax at approximately 720 and 650 nm, respectively. These correspond to CuNO5 and CuN2O4 structures, respectively, which are indicative of the presence of site-isolated organoamines in samples grafted in methanol. The monoamine and diamine samples grafted in toluene resulted in purple and deep purple colors with lambdamax at approximately 590 and 630 nm, respectively. These correspond to CuN2O4 and CuN4O2, which are indicative of the presence of closely spaced organoamines in samples grafted in toluene. The samples grafted in isopropanol gave colors and lambdamax intermediate between those of samples grafted in toluene and methanol.     

Selective adsorption behaviors of guest molecules COR in the hexamer host networks at liquid/solid interface

Here,the selective adsorption behaviors of guest molecule COR in two hexamer host grids were investigated by means of scanning tunnelling microscope(STM).The assembled structures of small functional organic molecules TTBTA and TATBA were thermodynamically stable.Interestingly,the introduction of the guest molecule COR destroyed the original hexamer structure of TTBTA and combined with it to form a new triangular host-guest system.Different from TTBTA,the introduction of the guest molecule COR did not affect the six-membered ring structure of TATBA.Furthermore,the co-assembly structure of TTBTA/TATBA/COR was established and the guest molecule COR showed preferential adsorption to the TATBA host grid.Density functional theory(DFT) calculations had been performed to disclose the mechanism of the involved assemblies.     

Chemical-clathrate hybrid hydrogen storage: storage in both guest and host

Hydrogen storage from two independent sources of the same material represents a novel approach to the hydrogen storage problem, yielding storage capacities greater than either of the individual constituents. Here we report a novel hydrogen storage scheme in which recoverable hydrogen is stored molecularly within clathrate cavities as well as chemically in the clathrate host material. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic measurements confirm the formation of beta-hydroquinone (beta-HQ) clathrate with molecular hydrogen. Hydrogen within the beta-HQ clathrate vibrates at considerably lower frequency than hydrogen in the free gaseous phase and rotates nondegenerately with splitting comparable to the rotational constant. Compared with water-based clathrate hydrate phases, the beta-HQ+H2 clathrate shows remarkable stability over a range of p-T conditions. Subsequent to clathrate decomposition, the host HQ was used to directly power a PEM fuel cell. With one H2 molecule per cavity, 0.61 wt % hydrogen may be stored in the beta-HQ clathrate cavities. When this amount is combined with complete dehydrogenation of the host hydroxyl hydrogens, the maximum hydrogen storage capacity increases nearly 300% to 2.43 wt %.     

Polyvalent scaffolds. Counting the number of seats available for eosin guest molecules in viologen-based host dendrimers

We have prepared and investigated two dendrimers based on a 1,3,5-trisubstituted benzenoid-type core, containing 9 and 21 viologen units in their branches, respectively, and terminated with tetraarylmethane derivatives. We have shown that, in dichloromethane solution, such highly charged cationic species give rise to strong host-guest complexes with the dianionic form of the red dye eosin. Upon complexation, the absorption spectrum of eosin becomes broader and is slightly displaced toward lower energies, whereas the strong fluorescence of eosin is completely quenched. Titration experiments based on fluorescence measurements have shown that each viologen unit in the dendrimers becomes associated with an eosin molecule, so that the number of positions ("seats") available for the guest molecules in the hosting dendrimer is clearly established, e.g., 21 for the larger of the two dendrimers. The host-guest interaction can be destroyed by addition of chloride ions, a procedure which permits eosin to escape from the dendrimer's interior in a controlled way and to regain its intense fluorescence. When chloride anions are precipitated out by addition of silver cations, eosin molecules re-enter the dendrimer's interior and their fluorescence again disappears.     

Diffusion of guest molecules in MCM-41 agglomerates

The pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance method has been used to study self-diffusion of cyclohexane in a commercial MCM-41 material at different external gas pressures from zero to saturated vapor pressure. It is found that the effective diffusivities exhibit three different regions with increasing pressure: decrease at low pressures, a sudden drop at intermediate pressures, and increase at higher pressures. In addition, in the region of irreversible adsorption (hysteresis loop) the diffusivities are also found to differ on the adsorption and the desorption branches. A simple analytical model taking account of different molecular ensembles with different transport properties due to the complex architecture of the porous structure is developed which provides a quantitative prediction of the experimental data. The analysis reveals that the effective diffusivity is predominantly controlled by the adsorption properties of the individual mesoporous MCM-41 crystallites which, in combination with high transport rates, provide a simple instrument for fine tuning of the transport properties by a subtle variation of the external conditions.     

Orientation of guest molecules in doped organic crystals

The orientation of guest molecules in the doped systems, naphthalene-in-anthracene, anthracene-in-naphthalene and tetracene-in-anthracene has been obtained by the use of atom-atom (6-1-exp) potentials. The results indicate that the guest molecules assume nearly the same orientation as the replaced host with only small perturbation on the host lattice. The results are in good agreement with recent ESR studies.     

Experiments on moving interaction boundaries and their characteristics of focusing and probing of both guest and host target molecules

In this paper, the concept of a moving interaction boundary (MIB) is proposed with regard to guest and host molecules. With 2-naphthalene-sulfonate (2-NS) and β-cyclodextrin (CD) as the model guest and host compounds, respectively, the relevant experiments were carried out on the MIB in capillary electrophoresis (CE). The experiments show that (1) there are a MIB and a complex boundary (CB) if proper guest and host molecules are used; (2) the MIB system has the characteristic of selective focusing and probing of the target 2-NS; (3) the system also has the characteristic of selective probing of the target host molecule β-CD without UV-absorbance, making the direct UV determination of β-CD from other CDs possible; (4) interestingly, the focusing of the guest molecule is a kind of leaky-sample stacking rather than a collection of analytes in sample sweeping; (5) the mechanism of MIB-induced separation of target analyte from unwanted ones is similar to but different from that of an affinity chromatography. In addition, the utility of MIB was briefly tested for a real sample of wastewater spiked with 2-NS.     

Hydrogen storage in nanoporous carbon materials: myth and facts

We used Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation to model the hydrogen storage in the primitive, gyroid, diamond, and quasi-periodic icosahedral nanoporous carbon materials and in carbon nanotubes. We found that none of the investigated nanoporous carbon materials satisfy the US Department of Energy goal of volumetric density and mass storage for automotive application (6 wt% and 45 kg H(2) m(-3)) at considered storage condition. Our calculations indicate that quasi-periodic icosahedral nanoporous carbon material can reach the 6 wt% at 3.8 MPa and 77 K, but the volumetric density does not exceed 24 kg H(2) m(-3). The bundle of single-walled carbon nanotubes can store only up to 4.5 wt%, but with high volumetric density of 42 kg H(2) m(-3). All investigated nanoporous carbon materials are not effective against compression above 20 MPa at 77 K because the adsorbed density approaches the density of the bulk fluid. It follows from this work that geometry of carbon surfaces can enhance the storage capacity only to a limited extent. Only a combination of the most effective structure with appropriate additives (metals) can provide an efficient storage medium for hydrogen in the quest for a source of "clean" energy.