Energy-Efficient Iodine Uptake by a Molecular Host-Guest Crystal

Recently, porous organic crystals (POC) based on macrocycles have shown exceptional sorption and separation properties. Yet, the impact of guest presence inside a macrocycle prior to adsorption has not been studied. Here we show that the inclusion of trimethoxybenzyl-azaphosphatrane in the macrocycle cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) affords molecular porous host.guest crystals (PHGC-1) with radically new properties. Unactivated hydrated PHGC-1 adsorbed iodine spontaneously and selectively at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The absence of (i) heat for material synthesis, (ii) moisture sensitivity, and (iii) energy-intensive steps for pore activation are attractive attributes for decreasing the energy costs. H-1 NMR and DOSY were instrumental for monitoring the H2O/I-2 exchange. PHGC-1 crystals are non-centrosymmetric and I-2-doped crystals showed markedly different second harmonic generation (SHG), which suggests that iodine doping could be used to modulate the non-linear optical properties of porous organic crystals.

Automated summary

Porous organic crystals based on macrocycles have recently shown exceptional sorption and separation properties. In this study, the inclusion of trimethoxybenzyl-azaphosphatrane in the macrocycle cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) resulted in the formation of molecular porous host.guest crystals (PHGC-1) with radically new properties. The PHGC-1 crystals demonstrated spontaneous and selective adsorption of iodine at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, offering potential advantages in energy cost reduction.