title: A robust microfluidic device for the synthesis and crystal growth of organometallic polymers with highly organized structures.
abstract: A simple and robust microfluidic device was developed to synthesize organometallic polymers with highly organized structures. The device is compatible with organic solvents. Reactants are loaded into pairs of reservoirs connected by a 15 cm long microchannel prefilled with solvents, thus allowing long-term counter diffusion for self-assembly of organometallic polymers. The process can be monitored, and the resulting crystalline polymers are harvested without damage. The device was used to synthesize three insoluble silver acetylides as single crystals of X-ray diffraction quality. Importantly, for the first time, the single-crystal structure of silver phenylacetylide was determined. The reported approach may have wide applications, such as crystallization of membrane proteins, synthesis and crystal growth of organic, inorganic, and polymeric coordination compounds, whose single crystals cannot be obtained using traditional methods.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062 (China); Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872 (China).
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qiaolian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Yongzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zhenning
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Chaohua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Zhengyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jun-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yizhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011108:Polymers
keywords: X-ray diffraction; crystal growth; polymers; silver; solid-state structures