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Updated: Oct 21, 2025

Sulfate Separation by Selective Crystallization with a Bis-iminoguanidinium Ligand
Published on: September 8, 2016
Molecular recognition and adsorptive separation of m-xylene by trianglimine crystals
Avishek Dey1, Santanu Chand1, Munmun Ghosh1
1Smart Hybrid Materials (SHMs) Laboratory, Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. niveen.khashab@kaust.edu.sa.
Abstract:
The separation of xylene isomers is one of the most challenging tasks in the petrochemical industry. Herein, we developed an efficient adsorptive molecular sieving strategy using crystalline trianglimine macrocycle (1) to separate the elusive m-xylene isomer from an equimolar xylenes mixture with over 91% purity. The selectivity is attributed to the capture of the preferred guest with size/shape selectivity and C-H⋯π interactions. Moreover, the trianglimine crystals are readily recyclable due to the reversible transformation between the guest-free and guest-loaded structures.
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