In a previous study, we reported the use of in situ 1 H-and 13 C-NMR to elucidate mechanistic pathways for the reaction of carbon dioxide with a broad range of amines (pKa ~4.5-15.5), including alkanolamines of commercial interest, in water. In the aqueous systems of that study, water most importantly functions as a Brønsted acid/Lewis base and as the amine is consumed and pH decreases hydrolyzes the initially formed carbamate species (1:2 CO 2 :amine stoichiometry), into the alkyl ammonium bicarbonate with a more beneficial 1:1 CO 2 :amine stoichiometry. This study has been extended herein to amines, amidines and guanidines dissolved in non-aqueous solvent systems such as dimethylsulfoxide, sulfolane, toluene, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone and the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium acetate. The use of non-aqueous organic solvents shuts off some CO 2 reaction pathways available in aqueous solution. However, more importantly, it opens up new possibilities and reaction pathways for amine based carbon capture. Two important aqueous-system pathways are eliminated: the direct hydration of CO 2 with tertiary amines or guanidines to form bicarbonates, and the hydrolysis of carbamates at lower pH to form bicarbonates. In non-aqueous solution, the initial step for the reaction of primary and secondary amines with CO 2 is the same as in aqueous solution -nucleophilic attack by the amine nitrogen on CO 2 . However, additional mechanistic pathways are enabled in non-aqueous solvents, particularly the stabilization of carbamic acid(s) (rather than carbamates) products in certain organic solvents. The formation of carbamates requires no water and is favored by higher amine concentrations and basicities (higher amine pKa). In contrast, carbamic acid/zwitterion formation is favored by lower amine concentrations, higher CO 2 partial pressures, lower amine pKa, and selection of more polar organic solvents that promote hydrogen bonding. The new amine-CO 2 reaction pathways enabled here by the use of non-aqueous solvents introduce stabilizing interactions between the non-aqueous solvent and the amine-CO 2 reaction products, facilitating higher capacity and selectivity for carbon capture than in water solutions. The effects of temperature, amine basicity, solvent electronic structures, and concentration on amine-CO 2 reaction products (carbamic acid/zwitterion/carbamate and equilibria between neutral and ion-paired forms) are discussed in detail herein.
Layer-stacking structures are very common in two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs). While their structures are normally determined under solvent-free conditions, the structures of solvated 2D COFs are largely unexplored. We report herein the in situ determination of solvated 2D COF structures, which exhibit an obvious difference as compared to that of the same COF under dried state. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) data analyses, computational modeling, and Pawley refinement indicate that the solvated 2D COFs experience considerable interlayer shifting, resulting in new structures similar to the staggered AB stacking, namely, quasi-AB-stacking structures, instead of the AA-stacking structures that are usually observed in the dried COFs. We attribute this interlayer shifting to the interactions between COFs and solvent molecules, which may weaken the attraction strength between adjacent COF layers. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the quasi-AB stacking is energetically preferred over the AA stacking in solvated COFs. All four highly crystalline 2D COFs examined in the present study exhibit considerable interlayer shifting upon solvation, implying the universality of the solvent-induced interlayer stacking rearrangement in 2D COFs. These findings prompt re-examination of the 2D COF structures in solvated state and suggest new opportunities for the applications of COF materials under wet conditions.
Pyridine-modified COF-10 exhibits enhanced stability in humid air relative to un-modified COF-10. Solid state NMR and computational studies were used to probe the nature of pyridine interactions with the framework. We propose two models for pyridine-framework interactions with different stabilities.
Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have found wide applications due to their crystalline structures. However, it is still challenging to quantify crystalline phases in a COF sample. This is because COFs, especially 2D ones, are usually obtained as mixtures of polycrystalline powders. Therefore, the understanding of the aggregated structures of 2D COFs is of significant importance for their efficient utilization. Here we report the study of the aggregated structures of 2D COFs using 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (13C SSNMR). We find that 13C SSNMR can distinguish different aggregated structures in a 2D COF because COF layer stacking creates confined spaces that enable intimate interactions between atoms/groups from adjacent layers. Subsequently, the chemical environments of these atoms/groups are changed compared with those of the nonstacking structures. Such a change in the chemical environment is significant enough to be captured by 13C SSNMR. After analyzing four 2D COFs, we find it particularly useful for 13C SSNMR to quantitatively distinguish the AA stacking structure from other aggregated structures. Additionally, 13C SSNMR data suggest the existence of offset stacking structures in 2D COFs. These offset stacking structures are not long-range-ordered and are eluded from X-ray-based detections, and thus they have not been reported before. In addition to the dried state, the aggregated structures of solvated 2D COFs are also studied by 13C SSNMR, showing that 2D COFs have different aggregated structures in dried versus solvated states. These results represent the first quantitative study on the aggregated structures of 2D COFs, deepen our understanding of the structures of 2D COFs, and further their applications.
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