Topology and porosity control of Zr6-based MOFs was achieved by introducing steric functionalization into the conformations of substituted tetracarboxylate linkers.

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Porosity and surface area analysis play a prominent role in modern materials science. At the heart of this sits the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) theory, which has been a remarkably successful contribution to the field of materials science. The BET method was developed in the 1930s for open surfaces but is now the most widely used metric for the estimation of surface areas of micro‐ and mesoporous materials. Despite its widespread use, the calculation of BET surface areas causes a spread in reported areas, resulting in reproducibility problems in both academia and industry. To prove this, for this analysis, 18 already‐measured raw adsorption isotherms were provided to sixty‐one labs, who were asked to calculate the corresponding BET areas. This round‐robin exercise resulted in a wide range of values. Here, the reproducibility of BET area determination from identical isotherms is demonstrated to be a largely ignored issue, raising critical concerns over the reliability of reported BET areas. To solve this major issue, a new computational approach to accurately and systematically determine the BET area of nanoporous materials is developed. The software, called “BET surface identification” (BETSI), expands on the well‐known Rouquerol criteria and makes an unambiguous BET area assignment possible.

Direct structural information of confined CO2 in a micropore is important for elucidating its specific binding or activation mechanism. However, weak gas-binding ability and/or poor sample crystallinity after guest exchange hindered the development of efficient materials for CO2 incorporation, activation and conversion. Here, we present a dynamic porous coordination polymer (PCP) material with local flexibility, in which the propeller-like ligands rotate to permit CO2 trapping. This process can be characterized by X-ray structural analysis. Owing to its high affinity towards CO2 and the confinement effect, the PCP exhibits high catalytic activity, rapid transformation dynamics, even high size selectivity to different substrates. Together with an excellent stability with turnover numbers (TON) of up to 39,000 per Zn1.5 cluster of catalyst after 10 cycles for CO2 cycloaddition to form value-added cyclic carbonates, these results demonstrate that such distinctive structure is responsible for visual CO2 capture and size-selective conversion.

The safe storage of flammable gases, such as acetylene, is essential for current industrial purposes. However, the narrow pressure and temperature range required for the industrial use of pure acetylene (100 < P < 200 kPa at 298 K) and its explosive behaviour at higher pressures make its storage and release challenging. Flexible metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that exhibit a gated adsorption/desorption behaviour -in which guest uptake/release occur above threshold pressures, usually accompanied by framework deformations -have

Structural changes at the active site of an enzyme induced by binding to a substrate molecule can result in enhanced activity in biological systems. Herein, we report that the new hybrid ultramicroporous material sql‐SIFSIX‐bpe‐Zn exhibits an induced fit binding mechanism when exposed to acetylene, C2H2. The resulting phase change affords exceptionally strong C2H2 binding that in turn enables highly selective C2H2/C2H4 and C2H2/CO2 separation demonstrated by dynamic breakthrough experiments. sql‐SIFSIX‐bpe‐Zn was observed to exhibit at least four phases: as‐synthesised (α); activated (β); and C2H2 induced phases (β′ and γ). sql‐SIFSIX‐bpe‐Zn‐β exhibited strong affinity for C2H2 at ambient conditions as demonstrated by benchmark isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) of 67.5 kJ mol−1 validated through in situ pressure gradient differential scanning calorimetry (PG‐DSC). Further, in situ characterisation and DFT calculations provide insight into the mechanism of the C2H2 induced fit transformation, binding positions and the nature of host‐guest and guest‐guest interactions.

No abstract

Flexible metal–organic materials that exhibit stimulus-responsive switching between closed (non-porous) and open (porous) structures induced by gas molecules are of potential utility in gas storage and separation. Such behaviour is currently limited to a few dozen physisorbents that typically switch through a breathing mechanism requiring structural contortions. Here we show a clathrate (non-porous) coordination network that undergoes gas-induced switching between multiple non-porous phases through transient porosity, which involves the diffusion of guests between discrete voids through intra-network distortions. This material is synthesized as a clathrate phase with solvent-filled cavities; evacuation affords a single-crystal to single-crystal transformation to a phase with smaller cavities. At 298 K, carbon dioxide, acetylene, ethylene and ethane induce reversible switching between guest-free and gas-loaded clathrate phases. For carbon dioxide and acetylene at cryogenic temperatures, phases showing progressively higher loadings were observed and characterized using in situ X-ray diffraction, and the mechanism of diffusion was computationally elucidated.