Tetrahedral Tetrakis(p -ethynylphenyl) Group IV Compounds in Microporous Polymers: Effect of Tetrel on Porosity

A microporous polymer based on nonconjugated hindered biphenyls that emits blue light

Microporous organic polymers that have three-dimensional connectivity stemming from monomers with tetrahedral or tetrahedron-like geometry can have high surface areas and strong fluorescence. There are however few examples of such polymers based on hindered biaryls, and their fluorescence has not been studied. Hypothesizing that the contortion in a hindered biphenyl moiety would modulate the optical properties of a polymer built from it, we synthesized a meta-enchained polyphenylene from a 2,2',6,6'-tetramethylbiphenyl-based monomer, in which the two phenyl rings are nearly mutually perpendicular. The polymer was microporous with SBET = 495 m2 g-1. The polymer absorbed near-UV light and emitted blue fluorescence despite the meta-enchainment that would have been expected to break the conjugation. A related copolymer, synthesized from 2,2',6,6'-tetramethylbiphenyl-based and unsubstituted biphenyl-based monomers, was microporous but not fluorescent.

Relationships Between Defectivity and Porosity in High Surface Area Porous Aromatic Frameworks

Porous aromatic framework (PAF) microporosity is known to be strongly dependent on synthetic approach but little is known about why certain reactions yield significantly and consistently more porous PAFs. This article explores the connections between synthetic pathway, PAF defectivity, and microporosity. Using a network disassembly strategy, we show that defectivity is highly dependent on synthetic approach and that more defective PAFs are associated with lower surface areas and pore volumes. This empirical association is corroborated through systematic introduction of defects to a modelPAF, which results in significant reduction of apparent surface area and pore volumes. Taken together, these data suggest that only highly efficient coupling reactions should be targeted for the synthesis of ultra-high surface area porous aromatic frameworks.

Porous networks based on iron(ii) clathrochelate complexes

Microporous networks based on boronate ester-capped iron(ii) clathrochelate complexes are described. The networks were obtained by covalent cross-linking of tetrabrominated clathrochelate complexes via Suzuki-Miyaura polycross-coupling reactions with diboronic acids, or by Sonogashira-Hagihara polycross-coupling of clathrochelate complexes with terminal alkyne functions and 1,3,5-tribromobenzene. The networks display permanent porosity with apparent Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas of up to SABET = 593 m2 g-1. A clathrochelate complex based on an enantiopure dioximato ligand was used to prepare chiral networks. One of these networks was shown to preferentially absorb d-tryptophan over l-tryptophan.