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Published on: February 12, 2019
A B ← N framework for highly selective adsorption of toluene
Xiang-Shuai Li1, Yizhou Wang1, Herman Ho-Yung Sung1
1Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China. chyjquan@ust.hk.
Abstract:
Differentiating toluene (Tol) from xylene isomers is critical yet challenging in industry due to their nearly identical physicochemical properties. Here, we report the design of a B ← N framework that exhibits high adsorption selectivity for Tol over xylenes. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses of the host-guest complexes and DFT calculations reveal that the selectivity stems from precise size matching and electronic complementarity.
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