Styrene Purification by Guest-Induced Restructuring of Pillar[6]arene.
The separation of styrene (St) and ethylbenzene (EB) mixtures is important in the chemical industry. Here, we explore the St and EB adsorption selectivity of two pillar-shaped macrocyclic pillar[n]arenes (EtP5 and EtP6; n = 5 and 6). Both crystalline and amorphous EtP6 can capture St from a St-EB mixture with remarkably high selectivity. We show that EtP6 can be used to separate St from a 50:50 v/v St:EB mixture, yielding in a single adsorption cycle St with a purity of >99%. Single-crystal structures, powder X-ray diffraction patterns, and molecular simulations all suggest that this selectivity is due to a guest-induced structural change in EtP6 rather than a simple cavity/pore size effect. This restructuring means that the material "self-heals" upon each recrystallization, and St separation can be carried out over multiple cycles with no loss of performance.
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China.
Kecheng
K
Jie
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Ming
M
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China.
Yujuan
Y
Zhou
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Marc A
MA
Little
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Satyanarayana
S
Bonakala
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Samantha Y
0000-0002-3095-875X
SY
Chong
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Andrew
A
Stephenson
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Linjiang
L
Chen
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Center for Chemistry of High-Performance & Novel Materials, Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, P. R. China.
Feihe
0000-0003-3177-6744
F
Huang
Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, University of Liverpool , Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
Andrew I
AI
Cooper