Water-Stable Europium 1,3,6,8-Tetrakis(4-carboxylphenyl)pyrene Framework for Efficient C2H2/CO2 Separation.

Compound {(Me2NH2)3[Eu7(μ3-O)2(TBAPy)5(H2O)6]·12.5DMF} n (JXNU-5), constructed from the 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(4-carboxylphenyl)pyrene (TBAPy4-) ligand and one-dimensional (1D) europium carboxylate rods, is presented. JXNU-5 has a three-dimensional framework with 1D channels. The strong coordination bonds between EuIII ions with high charge densities and carboxylate O atoms as well as strong π···π-stacking interactions between pyrenes lead to a water-resistant JXNU-5, which was verified by powder X-ray diffraction and surface area measurements. The breakthrough simulations and experiments demonstrate that an efficient C2H2/CO2 (50/50 mixture) gas separation at ambient conditions was achieved with JXNU-5. The calculation results show that the dominating interactions between the absorbed C2H2 molecules and host framework are hydrogen bonds associated with the carboxylate O atoms exposed on the pores. Thus, an elegant example of a water-stable metal-organic framework for effective C2H2/CO2 separation is demonstrated.