Highly Selective Removal of Trace Isomers by Nonporous Adaptive Pillararene Crystals for Chlorobutane Purification

Yujuan Zhou; Kecheng Jie; Run Zhao; Errui Li; Feihe Huang

doi:10.1021/jacs.0c02684

Highly Selective Removal of Trace Isomers by Nonporous Adaptive Pillararene Crystals for Chlorobutane Purification

J Am Chem Soc. 2020 Apr 15;142(15):6957-6961. doi: 10.1021/jacs.0c02684. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Authors

Yujuan Zhou¹, Kecheng Jie¹, Run Zhao¹, Errui Li¹, Feihe Huang¹

Affiliation

¹ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China.

PMID: 32212726
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c02684

Abstract

Removal of trace chlorobutane (CB) isomers is highly desired to produce high grade 1-chlorobutane (1-CB) and 2-chlorobutane (2-CB). Here, we report that nonporous adaptive crystals (NACs) of perethylated pillar[5]arene (EtP5) and pillar[6]arene (EtP6) effectively remove trace CB isomers. EtP5 NACs can remove trace 1-CB (2%) from 2-CB to improve its purity from 98.0% to 99.9%, while EtP6 NACs can remove trace 2-CB from 1-CB to improve its purity from 98.0% to 99.9%. The adsorption of trace CB isomers results in the formation of new CB-loaded crystal structures, whose thermostability is higher than their corresponding isomer-loaded structures. This determines the selectivity of NACs toward the trace CB isomers. Reversible transformations between nonporous guest-free and guest-loaded structures make EtP5 and EtP6 highly recyclable.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't