Confinement of p ‐Xylene in the Pores of a Bilanthanide Metal–Organic Framework for Highly Selective Recognition

作者：Mengmeng Wang, Zongsu Han, Kunyu Wang, Bin Zhao, Tiankai Sun, Yuewei Wu, Peng Cheng, Wei Shi · 发表于：Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/anie.202318722 · 被引用次数：41 · 研究领域：Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Applications、Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis、Molecular Sensors and Ion Detection

The rapid and accurate sensing of p-xylene, an essential raw material with a multi-billion-dollar market, in xylene mixture is of great significance in industry; however, the highly similar molecular structures, energy levels, and spectral characteristics of xylene isomers make the selective recognition extremely challenging. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibiting tailorable pores and potential binding sites provide prospects for xylene sensing but a comprehensive understanding of the pore effect is still elusive, primarily due to the intricacies involved in the sensing process. Herein, we reported a robust bilanthanide MOF NKU-999-EuTb with precisely engineered pores to accommodate p-xylene, of which the binding sites were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction and dynamic magnetic susceptibilities. NKU-999-EuTb exhibits high-performance in selective recognition for p-xylene towards its isomers. Through a systematical study, it was revealed that absorbing p-xylene into the pores governs the sensing performance. This work provides insights for developing advanced sensing materials for complex isomers.