Dynamic and solid-state behaviour of bromoisotrianglimine

Solid-state materials formed from discrete imine macrocycles have potential in industrial separations, but dynamic behaviour during both synthesis and crystallisation makes them challenging to exploit. Here, we explore opportunities for structural control by investigating the dynamic nature of a C-5 brominated isotrianglimine in solution and under crystallisation conditions. In solution, the equilibrium between the [3 + 3] and the less reported [2 + 2] macrocycle was investigated, and both macrocycles were fully characterised. Solvent templating during crystallisation was used to form new packing motifs for the [3 + 3] macrocycle and a previously unreported [4 + 4] macrocycle. Finally, chiral self-sorting was used to demonstrate how crystallisation conditions can not only influence packing arrangements but also shift the macrocycle equilibrium to yield new structures. This work thus exemplifies three strategies for exploiting dynamic behaviour to form isotrianglimine materials, and highlights the importance of understanding the dynamic behaviour of a system when designing and crystallising functional materials formed using dynamic covalent chemistry.

Synthesis of Calix[4]arene-Based Porous Organic Cages and Their Gas Adsorption

Two crystalline large-sized porous organic cages (POCs) based on conical calix[4]arene (C4A) were designed and synthesized. The four-jaw C4A unit tends to follow the face-directed self-assembly law with the planar triangular building blocks such as tris(4-aminophenyl)amine (TAPA) or 1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB) to generate a predictable cage with a stoichiometry of [6+8]. The formation of the large cages is confirmed through their relative molecular mass measured using MALDI-TOF/TOF spectra. The protonated molecular ion peaks of C4A-TAPA and C4A-TAPB were observed at m/z 5109.0 (calculated for C336H240O24N32: m/z 5109.7) and m/z 5594.2 (calculated for C384H264O24N24: m/z 5598.4). C4A-POCs exhibit I-type N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms with the BET surface areas of 1444.9 m2 ⋅ g-1 and 1014.6 m2 ⋅ g-1. The CO2 uptakes at 273 K are 62.1 cm3 ⋅ g-1 and 52.4 cm3 ⋅ g-1 at a pressure of 100 KPa. The saturated iodine vapor static uptakes at 348 K are 3.9 g ⋅ g-1 and 3.5 g ⋅ g-1. The adsorption capacity of C4A-TAPA for SO2 reaches to 124.4 cm3 ⋅ g-1 at 298 K and 1.3 bar. Additionally, the adsorption capacities of C4A-TAPA for C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6 were evaluated.

Porosity as a Design Element for Developing Catalytic Molecular Materials for Electrochemical and Photochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction

The catalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) using sustainable energy inputs is a promising strategy for upcycling of atmospheric carbon into value-added chemical products. This goal has inspired the development of catalysts for selective and efficient CO2 conversion using electrochemical and photochemical methods. Among the diverse array of catalyst systems designed for this purpose, 2D and 3D platforms that feature porosity offer the potential to combine carbon capture and conversion. Included are covalent organic frameworks (COFs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous molecular cages, and other hybrid molecular materials developed to increase active site exposure, stability, and water compatibility while maintaining precise molecular tunability. This mini-review showcases catalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) that incorporate well-defined molecular elements integrated into porous materials structures. Selected examples provide insights into how different approaches to this overall design strategy can augment their electrocatalytic and/or photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity.

Competitive aminal formation during the synthesis of a highly soluble, isopropyl-decorated imine porous organic cage

The synthesis of a new porous organic cage decorated with isopropyl moieties (CC21) was achieved from the reaction of triformylbenzene and an isopropyl functionalised diamine. Unlike structurally analogous porous organic cages, its synthesis proved challenging due to competitive aminal formation, rationalised using control experiments and computational modelling. The use of an additional amine was found to increase conversion to the desired cage.

Synergistic Porosity and Charge Effects in a Supramolecular Porphyrin Cage Promote Efficient Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

We present a supramolecular approach to catalyzing photochemical CO2 reduction through second-sphere porosity and charge effects. An iron porphyrin box (PB) bearing 24 cationic groups, FePB-2(P), was made via post-synthetic modification of an alkyne-functionalized supramolecular synthon. FePB-2(P) promotes the photochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) with 97 % selectivity for CO product, achieving turnover numbers (TON) exceeding 7000 and initial turnover frequencies (TOFmax ) reaching 1400 min-1 . The cooperativity between porosity and charge results in a 41-fold increase in activity relative to the parent Fe tetraphenylporphyrin (FeTPP) catalyst, which is far greater than analogs that augment catalysis through porosity (FePB-3(N), 4-fold increase) or charge (Fe p-tetramethylanilinium porphyrin (Fe-p-TMA), 6-fold increase) alone. This work establishes that synergistic pendants in the secondary coordination sphere can be leveraged as a design element to augment catalysis at primary active sites within confined spaces.

Photoresponsive Type III Porous Liquids

Porous materials are the subject of extensive research because of potential applications in areas such as gas adsorption and molecular separations. Until recently, most porous materials were solids, but there is now an emerging class of materials known as porous liquids. The incorporation of intrinsic porosity or cavities in a liquid can result in free-flowing materials that are capable of gas uptakes that are significantly higher than conventional non-porous liquids. A handful of porous liquids have also been investigated for gas separations. Until now, the release of gas from porous liquids has relied on molecular displacement (e.g., by adding small solvent molecules), pressure or temperature swings, or sonication. Here, we explore a new method of gas release which involves photoisomerisable porous liquids comprising a photoresponsive MOF dispersed in an ionic liquid. This results in the selective uptake of CO2 over CH4 and allows gas release to be controlled by using UV light.

Identifying porous cage subsets in the Cambridge Structural Database using topological data analysis

As rationally designable materials, the variety and number of synthesised metal-organic cages (MOCs) and organic cages (OCs) are expected to grow in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). In this regard, two of the most important questions are, which structures are already present in the CSD and how can they be identified? Here, we present a cage mining methodology based on topological data analysis and a combination of supervised and unsupervised learning that led to the derivation of - to the best of our knowledge - the first and only MOC dataset of 1839 structures and the largest experimental OC dataset of 7736 cages, as of March 2022. We illustrate the use of such datasets with a high-throughput screening of MOCs and OCs for xenon/krypton separation, important gases in multiple industries, including healthcare.

Purely Covalent Molecular Cages and Containers for Guest Encapsulation

Cage compounds offer unique binding pockets similar to enzyme-binding sites, which can be customized in terms of size, shape, and functional groups to point toward the cavity and many other parameters. Different synthetic strategies have been developed to create a toolkit of methods that allow preparing tailor-made organic cages for a number of distinct applications, such as gas separation, molecular recognition, molecular encapsulation, hosts for catalysis, etc. These examples show the versatility and high selectivity that can be achieved using cages, which is impossible by employing other molecular systems. This review explores the progress made in the field of fully organic molecular cages and containers by focusing on the properties of the cavity and their application to encapsulate guests.

Practical considerations in the design and use of porous liquids

The possibility of creating well-controlled empty space within liquids is conceptually intriguing, and from an application perspective, full of potential. Since the concept of porous liquids (PLs) arose several years ago, research efforts in this field have intensified. This review highlights the design, synthesis, and applicability of PLs through a thorough examination of the current state-of-the-art. Following a detailed examination of the fundamentals of PLs, we examine the different synthetic approaches proposed to date, discuss the nature of PLs, and their pathway from the laboratory to practical application. Finally, possible challenges and opportunities are outlined.

Molecular Cavity for Catalysis and Formation of Metal Nanoparticles for Use in Catalysis

The employment of weak intermolecular interactions in supramolecular chemistry offers an alternative approach to project artificial chemical environments like the active sites of enzymes. Discrete molecular architectures with defined shapes and geometries have become a revolutionary field of research in recent years because of their intrinsic porosity and ease of synthesis using dynamic non-covalent/covalent interactions. Several porous molecular cages have been constructed from simple building blocks by self-assembly, which undergoes many self-correction processes to form the final architecture. These supramolecular systems have been developed to demonstrate numerous applications, such as guest stabilization, drug delivery, catalysis, smart materials, and many other related fields. In this respect, catalysis in confined nanospaces using such supramolecular cages has seen significant growth over the years. These porous discrete cages contain suitable apertures for easy intake of substrates and smooth release of products to exhibit exceptional catalytic efficacy. This review highlights recent advancements in catalytic activity influenced by the nanocavities of hydrogen-bonded cages, metal-ligand coordination cages, and dynamic or reversible covalently bonded organic cages in different solvent media. Synthetic strategies for these three types of supramolecular systems are discussed briefly and follow similar and simplistic approaches manifested by simple starting materials and benign conditions. These examples demonstrate the progress of various functionalized molecular cages for specific chemical transformations in aqueous and nonaqueous media. Finally, we discuss the enduring challenges related to porous cage compounds that need to be overcome for further developments in this field of work.

Recent advances in the applications of porous organic cages

Porous organic cages (POCs) have emerged as a new sub-class of porous materials that stand out by virtue of their tunability, modularity, and processibility. Similar to other porous materials such...

Polymeric Fiber Sorbents Embedded with Porous Organic Cages

The synthesis and functionalization of porous organic cages (POCs) for separation have attracted growing interest over the past decade. However, the potential of solid-phase POCs for practical, large-scale separations will require incorporation into appropriate gas-solid or liquid-solid contactors. Contactors with more effective mass transfer properties and lower pressure drops than pelletized systems are preferred. Here, we prepared and characterized fiber sorbents with POCs throughout a cellulose acetate (CA) polymer matrix, which were then deployed in model separations. The POC CC3 was shown to be stable after exposure to spinning solvents, as confirmed by NMR, powder X-ray diffraction, and gas sorption experiments. CC3-CA fibers were spun using the dry-jet wet-quench spinning method. Spun fibers retained the adsorptive properties of CC3 powders, as confirmed by CO₂ and N₂ physisorption and TGA, reaching upward of 60 wt % adsorbent loading, whereas the pelletized CC3 counterparts suffered significant losses in textural properties. The separation capabilities of the CC3-CA fibers are tested with both simulated postcombustion flue gas and with Xe/Kr mixtures. Fixed bed breakthrough experiments performed on fibers samples show that CC3 embedded in polymeric fibers can effectively perform these proof-of-concept gas separations. The development of fiber sorbents embedded with POCs provides an alternative to traditional pelletization for the incorporation of these materials into adsorptive separation systems.

Enhancement of Alkali Metal Ion Recognition by Metalation of a Tris(saloph) Cryptand Having Benzene Rings at the Bridgeheads

A cryptand derivative, H₆L, which has three H₂saloph arms connected by two benzene ring bridgeheads, was synthesized and converted into the trinuclear metallocryptand, LNi₃. The nonmetalated host, H₆L, was found to bind to alkali metal ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺; logK_a = 3.37-6.67) in its well-defined cavity in DMSO/chloroform (1:9). The binding affinity was enhanced by 1-2 orders of magnitude upon the conversion into the metallocryptand, LNi₃, which can be explained by the more polarized phenoxo groups in the [Ni(saloph)] arms. The guest binding affinity of Na⁺ < K⁺ < Rb⁺ ≈ Cs⁺ was clearly demonstrated by the ¹H NMR competition experiments. The DFT calculations suggested that the Rb⁺ ion most suitably fit into the benzene-benzene spacing with a cation-π interaction and that only the largest Cs⁺ ion can almost equally interact with all six phenoxo oxygen donor atoms. The metallocryptand, LNi₃, also showed a strong binding affinity to Ag⁺ by taking advantage of cation-π interactions, which was confirmed by spectroscopic titrations and crystallographic analysis as well as DFT calculations. Thus, the well-defined three-dimensional cavity of LNi₃ was found to be suitable for strong binding with alkali metal ions as well as Ag⁺.

Sterics and Hydrogen Bonding Control Stereochemistry and Self-Sorting in BINOL-Based Assemblies

Here we demonstrate how the hydrogen-bonding ability of a BINOL-based dialdehyde subcomponent dictated the stereochemical outcome of its subsequent self-assembly into one diastereomeric helicate form when bearing free hydroxy groups, and another in the case of its methylated congener. The presence of methyl groups also altered the self-sorting behavior when mixed with another, short linear dialdehyde subcomponent, switching the outcome of the system from narcissistic to integrative self-sorting. In all cases, the axial chirality of the BINOL building block also dictated helicate metal center handedness during stereospecific self-assembly. A new family of stereochemically pure heteroleptic helicates were thus prepared using the new knowledge gained. We also found that switching from Fe^II to Zn^II, or the incorporation of a longer linear ligand, favored heteroleptic structure formation.

Three dimensional isophlorinoid tetrapodal molecular cage

Steric hindrance induced by thiophene molecules in predesigned precursors favors the exclusive formation of a three dimensional (3D) π-conjugated cage and quasi-cage like molecules instead of a porphyrinoid macrocycle. Herein we report the synthesis of a tetrapod 3D fully π-conjugated molecular cage using a simple acid catalysed reaction. The X-Ray crystallography analysis confirmed the tetrapod cage structure and intermediates, which resemble three-fourths or half of the cage structures.

The Ionic Organic Cage: An Effective and Recyclable Testbed for Catalytic CO2 Transformation

Porous organic cages (POC) are a class of relatively new molecular porous materials, whose concept was raised in 2009 by Cooper’s group and has rarely been directly used in the area of organic catalysis. In this contribution, a novel ionic quasi-porous organic cage (denoted as Iq-POC), a quaternary phosphonium salt, was easily synthesized through dynamic covalent chemistry and a subsequent nucleophilic addition reaction. Iq-POC was applied as an effective nucleophilic catalyst for the cycloaddition reaction of CO2 and epoxides. Owing to the combined effect of the relatively large molecular weight (compared with PPh3+I−) and the strong polarity of Iq-POC, the molecular catalyst Iq-POC displayed favorable heterogeneous nature (i.e., insolubility) in this catalytic system. Therefore, the Iq-POC catalyst could be easily separated and recycled by simple centrifugation method, and the catalyst could be reused five times without obvious loss of activity. The molecular weight augmentation route in this study (from PPh3+I− to Iq-POC) provided us a “cage strategy” of designing separable and recyclable molecular catalysts.

Phosphine-Built-in Porous Organic Cage for Stabilization and Boosting the Catalytic Performance of Palladium Nanoparticles in Cross-Coupling of Aryl Halides

Herein, we report first a novel phosphine-containing porous organic cage (PPOC) from a [2 + 3] self-assembly of triphenyl phosphine-based trialdehyde and (S,S)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane via dynamic imine chemistry, which was employed as a porous material for the controlled growth of palladium nanoparticles (NPs) due to the strong affinity of Pd to the phosphine ligand based on the principle of hard and soft acids and bases. Comprehensive characterizations including X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, NMR, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveal that ultrafine Pd NPs with narrow size distribution (1.7 ± 0.3 nm) and enhanced surface electronic density via a strong interaction between NPs and phosphine were homogeneously dispersed in the PPOC. The resultant catalyst Pd@PPOC exhibits remarkably superior catalytic activities for various cross-coupling reactions of aryl halides, for example, Sonogashira, Suzuki, Heck, and carbonylation. The catalytic activity of Pd@PPOC outperforms the state-of-the-art Pd complexes and other Pd NPs supported on N-containing porous cages under identical conditions, owing to the enhanced surface electronic density of Pd NPs and their high stability and dispersibility in solution. More importantly, Pd@PPOC is highly stable and easily recycled and reused without loss of their catalytic activity. This work provides a new functional POC with extended potentials in catalysis and material science.

Continuous and scalable synthesis of a porous organic cage by twin screw extrusion (TSE)

The continuous and scalable synthesis of a porous organic cage (CC3), obtained through a 10-component imine polycondensation between triformylbenzene and a vicinal diamine, was achieved using twin screw extrusion (TSE). Compared to both batch and flow syntheses, the use of TSE enabled the large scale synthesis of CC3 using minimal solvent and in short reaction times, with liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) also promoting window-to-window crystal packing to form a 3-D diamondoid pore network in the solid state. A new kinetically trapped [3+5] product was also observed alongside the formation of the targeted [4+6] cage species. Post-synthetic purification by Soxhlet extraction of the as-extruded 'technical grade' mixture of CC3 and [3+5] species rendered the material porous.

Organic Cage Dumbbells

Molecular dumbbells with organic cage capping units were synthesised via a multi-component imine condensation between a tri-topic amine and di- and tetra-topic aldehydes. This is an example of self-sorting, which can be rationalised by computational modelling.

Solvent-controlled self-assembly of tetrapodal [4 + 4] phosphate organic molecular cage

Two flexible subcomponents, namely tris(4-formylphenyl)phosphate and tris(2-aminoethyl)amine, are assembled into a tetrapodal [4 + 4] cage depending on the solvent effect. Single-crystal structure analysis reveals that the caivity is surrounded by four phosphate uints. Good selectivity of CO₂ adsorption over CH₄ is demonstrated by the gas adsorption experiment.

From Frustrated Packing to Tecton-Driven Porous Molecular Solids

Structurally divergent molecules containing bulky substituents tend to produce porous materials via frustrated packing. Two rigid tetrahedral cores, tetraphenylmethane and 1,3,5,7-tetraphenyladamantane, grafted peripherally with four (trimethylsilyl)ethynyl moieties, were found to have only isolated voids in their crystal structures. Hence, they were modified into tecton-like entities, tetrakis(4-(iodoethynyl)phenyl)methane [I4TEPM] and 1,3,5,7-tetrakis(4-(iodoethynyl)phenyl)adamantane [I4TEPA], in order to deliberately use the motif-forming characteristics of iodoethynyl units to enhance crystal porosity. I4TEPM not only holds increased free volume compared to its precursor, but also forms one-dimensional channels. Furthermore, it readily co-crystallizes with Lewis basic solvents to afford two-component porous crystals.

Constructing an ultra-adsorbent based on the porous organic molecules of noria for the highly efficient adsorption of cationic dyes

A novel Noria-POP-1 material has been successfully synthesized by the simple polymerization of the porous organic molecules of noria and aryl diamines. Noria-POP-1 displayed excellent adsorption capacity for cationic dyes from water with selective removal ability. The adsorption experiments show that Noria-POP-1 displays a remarkable capability to selectively adsorb and separate methylene blue with an adsorption capacity of 2434 mg g⁻¹, which is the highest value obtained so far for porous organic polymers.

A novel Noria-POP-1 material has been successfully synthesized by simply polymerization of Noria and aryl diamines. Noria-POP-1 displays a remarkable capability to selectively absorb and separate methylene blue, which is 2434 mg g⁻¹.

A convenient one-pot nanosynthesis of a C(sp2)-C(sp3)-linked 3D grid via an 'A2 + B3' approach

Fluorene-based 3D-grid-FTPA was synthesised with a total yield of 55% via the one-pot formation of six C(sp²)-C(sp³) bonds through a BF₃·Et₂O-mediated Friedel-Crafts reaction of A₂-type bifluorene tertiary alcohol (BIOH) and two B₃-type triphenylamines. At the same time, Un-grid-FTPA (2.7%) and 2D-grid-FTPA (5.6%) were obtained as by-products from this synthesis method. In addition, the effect of stereoisomers of BIOH was evaluated to demonstrate that Rac-BIOH is a better A₂-type building block to prepare 3D-grid-FTPA in a relatively high yield. Furthermore, 3D-grid-FTPA showed excellent chemical, thermal, and photo-stabilities.

Synthesis of a Large, Shape-Flexible, Solvatomorphic Porous Organic Cage

Porous organic cages have emerged over the last 10 years as a subclass of functional microporous materials. However, among all of the organic cages reported, large multicomponent organic cages with 20 components or more are still rare. Here, we present an [8 + 12] porous organic imine cage, CC20, which has an apparent surface area up to 1752 m² g^-1, depending on the crystallization and activation conditions. The cage is solvatomorphic and displays distinct geometrical cage structures, caused by crystal-packing effects, in its crystal structures. This indicates that larger cages can display a certain range of shape flexibility in the solid state, while remaining shape persistent and porous.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of porous organic cages CC3 and CC2

The microwave synthesis of two prototypical porous organic cages, denoted as CC3 and CC2 is demonstrated.

Shape-persistent pyrrole-based covalent organic cages: synthesis, structure and selective gas adsorption properties

Two cryptand-like, shape persistent [2+3] imine cages (1 and 2) derived from oligopyrrolic precursors (diformyl dipyrrylpyridine 3 and diformyl bipyrrole 4) were prepared. These cages contain open cavities as inferred from solid state structural analyses and act as selective CO2 gas adsorbing materials in the solid state.

Eigencages: Learning a Latent Space of Porous Cage Molecules

Porous organic cage molecules harbor nanosized cavities that can selectively adsorb gas molecules, lending them applications in separations and sensing. The geometry of the cavity strongly influences their adsorptive selectivity. For comparing cages and predicting their adsorption properties, we embed/encode a set of 74 porous organic cage molecules into a low-dimensional, latent "cage space" on the basis of their intrinsic porosity. We first computationally scan each cage to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image of its porosity. Leveraging the singular value decomposition, in an unsupervised manner, we then learn across all cages an approximate, lower-dimensional subspace in which the 3D porosity images congregate. The "eigencages" are the set of orthogonal, characteristic 3D porosity images that span this lower-dimensional subspace, ordered in terms of importance. A latent representation/encoding of each cage follows by approximately expressing it as a combination of the eigencages. We show that the learned encoding captures salient features of the cavities of porous cages and is predictive of properties of the cages that arise from cavity shape. Our methods could be applied to learn latent representations of cavities within other classes of porous materials and of shapes of molecules in general.

An evolutionary algorithm for the discovery of porous organic cages

The chemical and structural space of possible molecular materials is enormous, as they can, in principle, be built from any combination of organic building blocks. Here we have developed an evolutionary algorithm (EA) that can assist in the efficient exploration of chemical space for molecular materials, helping to guide synthesis to materials with promising applications. We demonstrate the utility of our EA to porous organic cages, predicting both promising targets and identifying the chemical features that emerge as important for a cage to be shape persistent or to adopt a particular cavity size. We identify that shape persistent cages require a low percentage of rotatable bonds in their precursors (<20%) and that the higher topicity building block in particular should use double bonds for rigidity. We can use the EA to explore what size ranges for precursors are required for achieving a given pore size in a cage and show that 16 Å pores, which are absent in the literature, should be synthetically achievable. Our EA implementation is adaptable and easily extendable, not only to target specific properties of porous organic cages, such as optimal encapsulants or molecular separation materials, but also to any easily calculable property of other molecular materials.

stk: A python toolkit for supramolecular assembly

A tool for the automated assembly, molecular optimization and property calculation of supramolecular materials is presented. stk is a modular, extensible and open-source Python library that provides a simple Python API and integration with third party computational codes. stk currently supports the construction of linear polymers, small linear oligomers, organic cages in multiple topologies and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) in multiple framework topologies, but is designed to be easy to extend to new, unrelated, supramolecules or new topologies. Extension to metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), metallocycles or supramolecules, such as catenanes, would be straightforward. Through integration with third party codes, stk offers the user the opportunity to explore the potential energy landscape of the assembled supramolecule and then calculate the supramolecule's structural features and properties. stk provides support for high-throughput screening of large batches of supramolecules at a time. The source code of the program can be found at https://github.com/supramolecular-toolkit/stk. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Energy-Structure-Function Maps: Cartography for Materials Discovery

Some of the most successful approaches to structural design in materials chemistry have exploited strong directional bonds, whose geometric reliability lends predictability to solid-state assembly. For example, metal-organic frameworks are an important design platform in materials chemistry. By contrast, the structure of molecular crystals is defined by a balance of weaker intermolecular forces, and small changes to the molecular building blocks can lead to large changes in crystal packing. Hence, empirical rules are inherently less reliable for engineering the structures of molecular solids. Energy-structure-function (ESF) maps are a new approach for the discovery of functional organic crystals. These maps fuse crystal-structure prediction with the computation of physical properties to allow researchers to choose the most promising molecule for a given application, prior to its synthesis. ESF maps were used recently to discover a highly porous molecular crystal that has a high methane deliverable capacity and the lowest density molecular crystal reported to date (r = 0.41 g cm^-3 , SA_BET = 3425 m² g^-1 ). Progress in this field is reviewed, with emphasis on the future opportunities and challenges for a design strategy based on computed ESF maps.

Dissecting Porosity in Molecular Crystals: Influence of Geometry, Hydrogen Bonding, and [π···π] Stacking on the Solid-State Packing of Fluorinated Aromatics

Porous molecular crystals are an emerging class of porous materials that is unique in being built from discrete molecules rather than being polymeric in nature. In this study, we examined the effects of molecular structure of the precursors on the formation of porous solid-state structures with a series of 16 rigid aromatics. The majority of these precursors possess pyrazole groups capable of hydrogen bonding, as well as electron-rich aromatics and electron-poor tetrafluorobenzene rings. These precursors were prepared using a combination of Pd- and Cu-catalyzed cross-couplings, careful manipulations of protecting groups on the nitrogen atoms, and solvothermal syntheses. Our study varied the geometry and dimensions of precursors, as well as the presence of groups capable of hydrogen bonding and [π···π] stacking. Thirteen derivatives were crystallographically characterized, and four of them were found to be porous with surface areas between 283 and 1821 m² g^-1. Common to these four porous structures were (a) rigid trigonal geometry, (b) [π···π] stacking of electron-poor tetrafluorobenzenes with electron-rich pyrazoles or tetrazoles, and

Shape-Persistent [4+4] Imine Cages with a Truncated Tetrahedral Geometry

The synthesis of shape-persistent organic cage compounds is often based on the usage of multiple dynamic covalent bond formation (such as imines) of readily available precursors. By careful choice of the precursors geometry, the geometry and size of the resulting cage can be accurately designed and indeed a number of different geometries and sizes have been realized to date. Despite of this fact, little is known about the precursors conformational rigidity and steric preorganization of reacting functional groups on the outcome of the reaction. Herein, the influence of conformational rigidity in the precursors on the formation of a [4+4] imine cage with truncated tetrahedral geometry is discussed.

Heteropore covalent organic frameworks: a new class of porous organic polymers with well-ordered hierarchical porosities

This review highlights the development of heteropore covalent organic frameworks, a new class of porous organic polymers which exhibit well-ordered heterogeneous/hierarchical porosities.

Mixed-Matrix Membranes

Research into extended porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and porous organic frameworks (POFs), as well as the analogous metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) and porous organic cages (POCs), has blossomed over the last decade. Given their chemical and structural variability and notable porosity, MOFs have been proposed as adsorbents for industrial gas separations and also as promising filler components for high-performance mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs). Research in this area has focused on enhancing the chemical compatibility of the MOF and polymer phases by judiciously functionalizing the organic linkers of the MOF, modifying the MOF surface chemistry, and, more recently, exploring how particle size, morphology, and distribution enhance separation performance. Other filler materials, including POFs, MOPs, and POCs, are also being explored as additives for MMMs and have shown remarkable anti-aging performance and excellent chemical compatibility with commercially available polymers. This Review briefly outlines the state-of-the-art in MOF-MMM fabrication, and the more recent use of POFs and molecular additives.

Design Principles for the Optimization of Guest Binding in Aromatic-Paneled FeII4L6 Cages

A series of aromatic-paneled Fe^II₄L₆ cages was synthesized through iron(II)-templated subcomponent self-assembly of 2-formylpyridine and C₂-symmetric diamine building blocks having differing geometries, including many with a large degree of lateral offset between metal-binding sites. The new cages were characterized using X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. Investigations of the guest binding properties of the cages provided insights into the structural factors important for the observation of guest binding. Both the size and arrangement of the aromatic panels were shown to be crucial for achieving effective encapsulation of large hydrophobic guests, including fullerenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and steroids, with subtle differences in the structure of subcomponents resulting in incommensurate effects on the binding abilities of the resulting hosts. Cages with large, offset aromatic panels were observed to be the most effective hosts as a result of a preference for a ligand conformation where the aromatic panels lie tangent to the edges of the tetrahedron, thus maximizing cavity enclosure.

Porous Molecular Solids and Liquids

Until recently, porous molecular solids were isolated curiosities with properties that were eclipsed by porous frameworks, such as metal-organic frameworks. Now molecules have emerged as a functional materials platform that can have high levels of porosity, good chemical stability, and, uniquely, solution processability. The lack of intermolecular bonding in these materials has also led to new, counterintuitive states of matter, such as porous liquids. Our ability to design these materials has improved significantly due to advances in computational prediction methods.