Highly selective adsorption of ethylene over ethane in a MOF featuring the combination of open metal site and π-complexation

Abstract

The introduction of the combination of open metal site (OMS) and π-complexation into MOF has led to very high ethylene–ethane adsorption selectivity at 318 K, as illustrated in the context of MIL-101–Cr–SO₃Ag. The interactions with ethylene from both OMS and π-complexation in MIL-101–Cr–SO₃Ag have been investigated by in situ IR spectroscopic studies and computational calculations, which suggest that π-complexation contributes dominantly to the high ethylene–ethane adsorption selectivity.