Supramolecular
cavitands and organic cages having a well-defined
cavity and excellent host–guest complexing ability have been
explored for a myriad of applications ranging from catalysis to molecular
separation to drug delivery. On the other hand, porous organic polymers
(POPs) having tunable porosity and a robust network structure have
emerged as advanced materials for molecular storage, heterogeneous
catalysis, water purification, light harvesting, and energy storage.
A fruitful marriage between guest-responsive discrete porous supramolecular
hosts and highly porous organic polymers has created a new interface
in supramolecular chemistry and materials science, confronting the
challenges related to energy and the environment. In this mini-review,
we have addressed the recent advances (from 2015 to the middle of
2020) of cavitand and organic cage-based porous organic polymers for
sustainable development, including applications in heterogeneous catalysis,
CO2 conversion, micropollutant separation, and heavy metal
sequestration from water. We have highlighted the “cavitand/cage-to-framework”
design strategy and delineated the future scope of the emerging new
class of porous organic networks from “preporous” building
blocks.
Metal oxoanions adversely affect the food chain through bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Therefore, they are among the major freshwater contaminants that require immediate remediation. Although several adsorbents are developed over the years for sequestering these micropollutants, the selective removal of oxoanions remains still a formidable challenge. Herein, pyridinium and triazine‐based ionic porous organic polymer, iPOP‐Cl, developed through a Brønsted acid‐catalyzed aminal formation reaction, is reported as a suitable anion exchange material for the selective removal of metal oxoanions from wastewater. The positively charged nitrogen centers, along with exchangeable chloride counter‐ions in the porous polymer, allow facile oxoanion uptake. iPOP‐Cl is found to be a selective scavenger of permanganate (MnO4−) and dichromate (Cr2O72−) from water in the presence of a high concentration of competing anions generally found in brackish water. The material exhibits fast sorption kinetics, a high uptake capacity (333 mg g−1 for MnO4− and 358 mg g−1 for Cr2O72−), and excellent recyclability.
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