Metal-Organic Frameworks for Practical Separation of Cyclic and Linear Polymers

The purification step in the manufacturing of cyclic polymers is difficult as complete fractionation to eliminate linear impurities requires considerable effort. Here, we report a new polymer separation methodology that uses metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to discriminate between linear and cyclic polyethylene glycols (PEGs) via selective polymer insertion into the MOF nanopores. Preparation of a MOF-packed column allowed analytical and preparative chromatographic separation of these topologically distinct pairs. In addition, gram-scale PEGs with only cyclic structures were successfully obtained from a crude reaction mixture by using MOF as an adsorbent.

Automated summary

A new polymer separation methodology that uses metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to differentiate between linear and cyclic polyethylene glycols (PEGs) was reported, allowing successful isolation of gram-scale PEGs with only cyclic structures from crude reaction mixtures using MOF as an adsorbent.