Crystal Flexibility Design through Local and Global Motility Cooperation

Abstract

Incorporating local mobility into a flexible framework promises to create cooperative properties unattainable in a conventional soft porous crystal. In this study, we propose a design strategy that integrates substituent moieties and a flexible porous crystal framework via intra-framework π–π interactions. This integration not only facilitates framework structural transitions but also gives the porous coordination polymers (PCPs) different guest-free structures that depend on the activation conditions. The incorporated flexibility gives the material the ability to discriminate C6 alkane isomers based on different gate-opening behaviors. Thus, the PCP has potential applications in C6 isomer separation, a critical step in the petroleum refining process to produce gasoline with high octane rating. This strategy, based on ligand designability, offers a new approach to flexible PCP structural and functional design.