Separation of rare gases and chiral molecules by selective binding in porous organic cages

The separation of molecules with similar size and shape is an important technological challenge. For example, rare gases can pose either an economic opportunity or an environmental hazard and there is a need to separate these spherical molecules selectively at low concentrations in air. Likewise, ch...

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Published inNature materials Vol. 13; no. 10; pp. 954 - 960
Main Authors Chen, Linjiang, Reiss, Paul S., Chong, Samantha Y., Holden, Daniel, Jelfs, Kim E., Hasell, Tom, Little, Marc A., Kewley, Adam, Briggs, Michael E., Stephenson, Andrew, Thomas, K. Mark, Armstrong, Jayne A., Bell, Jon, Busto, Jose, Noel, Raymond, Liu, Jian, Strachan, Denis M., Thallapally, Praveen K., Cooper, Andrew I.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.10.2014
Nature Publishing Group
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Summary:The separation of molecules with similar size and shape is an important technological challenge. For example, rare gases can pose either an economic opportunity or an environmental hazard and there is a need to separate these spherical molecules selectively at low concentrations in air. Likewise, chiral molecules are important building blocks for pharmaceuticals, but chiral enantiomers, by definition, have identical size and shape, and their separation can be challenging. Here we show that a porous organic cage molecule has unprecedented performance in the solid state for the separation of rare gases, such as krypton and xenon. The selectivity arises from a precise size match between the rare gas and the organic cage cavity, as predicted by molecular simulations. Breakthrough experiments demonstrate real practical potential for the separation of krypton, xenon and radon from air at concentrations of only a few parts per million. We also demonstrate selective binding of chiral organic molecules such as 1-phenylethanol, suggesting applications in enantioselective separation. A porous organic-cage molecule is shown to exhibit unprecedented performance for the separation of rare gases, with selectivity arising from a precise size match between the rare gas and the organic-cage cavity.
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ISSN:1476-1122
1476-4660
DOI:10.1038/nmat4035