Capturing carbon dioxide from air with charged-sorbents.

Emissions reduction and greenhouse gas removal from the atmosphere are both necessary to achieve net-zero emissions and limit climate change1. There is thus a need for improved sorbents for the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a process known as direct air capture. In particular, low-cost materials that can be regenerated at low temperatures would overcome the limitations of current technologies. In this work, we introduce a new class of designer sorbent materials known as 'charged-sorbents'. These materials are prepared through a battery-like charging process that accumulates ions in the pores of low-cost activated carbons, with the inserted ions then serving as sites for carbon dioxide adsorption. We use our charging process to accumulate reactive hydroxide ions in the pores of a carbon electrode, and find that the resulting sorbent material can rapidly capture carbon dioxide from ambient air by means of (bi)carbonate formation. Unlike traditional bulk carbonates, charged-sorbent regeneration can be achieved at low temperatures (90-100 °C) and the sorbent's conductive nature permits direct Joule heating regeneration2,3 using renewable electricity. Given their highly tailorable pore environments and low cost, we anticipate that charged-sorbents will find numerous potential applications in chemical separations, catalysis and beyond.

Carbon Dioxide Capture at Nucleophilic Hydroxide Sites in Oxidation-Resistant Cyclodextrin-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) from industrial point sources and direct air capture are necessary to combat global climate change. A particular challenge faced by amine-based sorbents-the current leading technology-is poor stability towards O2 . Here, we demonstrate that CO2 chemisorption in γ-cylodextrin-based metal-organic frameworks (CD-MOFs) occurs via HCO3 - formation at nucleophilic OH- sites within the framework pores, rather than via previously proposed pathways. The new framework KHCO3 CD-MOF possesses rapid and high-capacity CO2 uptake, good thermal, oxidative, and cycling stabilities, and selective CO2 capture under mixed gas conditions. Because of its low cost and performance under realistic conditions, KHCO3 CD-MOF is a promising new platform for CCS. More broadly, our work demonstrates that the encapsulation of reactive OH- sites within a porous framework represents a potentially general strategy for the design of oxidation-resistant adsorbents for CO2 capture.

Fluoroarene Separations in Metal-Organic Frameworks with Two Proximal Mg2+ Coordination Sites.

Fluoroarenes are widely used in medicinal, agricultural, and materials chemistry, and yet their production remains a critical challenge in organic synthesis. Indeed, the nearly identical physical properties of these vital building blocks hinders their purification by traditional methods, such as flash chromatography or distillation. As a result, the Balz-Schiemann reaction is currently employed to prepare fluoroarenes instead of more atom-economical C-H fluorination reactions, which produce inseparable mixtures of regioisomers. Herein, we propose an alternative solution to this problem: the purification of mixtures of fluoroarenes using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Specifically, we demonstrate that controlling the interaction of fluoroarenes with adjacent coordinatively unsaturated Mg2+ centers within a MOF enables the separation of fluoroarene mixtures with unparalleled selectivities. Liquid-phase multicomponent equilibrium adsorption data and breakthrough measurements coupled with van der Waals-corrected density functional theory calculations reveal that the materials Mg2(dobdc) (dobdc4- = 2,5-dioxidobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate) and Mg2(m-dobdc) (m-dobdc4- = 2,4-dioxidobenzene-1,5-dicarboxylate) are capable of separating the difluorobenzene isomers from one another. Additionally, these frameworks facilitate the separations of fluoroanisoles, fluorotoluenes, and fluorochlorobenzenes. In addition to enabling currently unfeasible separations for the production of fluoroarenes, our results suggest that carefully controlling the interaction of isomers with not one but two strong binding sites within a MOF provides a general strategy for achieving challenging liquid-phase separations.

Handling fluorinated gases as solid reagents using metal-organic frameworks.

Fluorine is an increasingly common substituent in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals because it improves the bioavailability and metabolic stability of organic molecules. Fluorinated gases represent intuitive building blocks for the late-stage installation of fluorinated groups, but they are generally overlooked because they require the use of specialized equipment. We report a general strategy for handling fluorinated gases as benchtop-stable solid reagents using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Gas-MOF reagents are prepared on gram-scale and used to facilitate fluorovinylation and fluoroalkylation reactions. Encapsulation of gas-MOF reagents within wax enables stable storage on the benchtop and controlled release into solution upon sonication, which represents a safer alternative to handling the gas directly. Furthermore, our approach enables high-throughput reaction development with these gases.

Defects Formation and Amorphization of Zn-MOF-74 Crystals by Post-Synthetic Interactions with Bidentate Adsorbates.

The controlled introduction of defects into MOFs is a powerful strategy to induce new physiochemical properties and improve their performance for target applications. Herein, we present a new strategy for defect formation and amorphization of the canonical MOF-74 frameworks based on fine-tuning of adsorbate-framework interactions in the metal congener, hence introducing structural defects. Specifically, we demonstrate that controlled interactions between the MOF and bidentate ligands adsorbed in the pores initiates defect formation and eventual amorphization of the crystal. These structural features unlock properties that are otherwise absent in the ordered framework, such as broad-band fluorescence. The ability to introduce defects by adsorbate-framework interactions, coupled with the inherent tunability and modularity of these structures, provides a new route for the synthesis of diverse heterogeneous and hybrid materials.