Preparation and Gas Adsorption Studies of Three Mesh-Adjustable Molecular Sieves with a Common Structure

Solvothermal reactions of a predesigned amphiphilic ligand, 4′-tert-butyl-biphenyl-3,5-dicarboxylate (BBPDC), with Zn(NO3)2, Co(NO3)2, and Cu(NO3)2 gave rise to three isostructural mesh-adjustable molecular sieves (MAMSs), MAMS-2, MAMS-3, and MAMS-4, respectively. The three new MAMSs all exhibit temperature-tuned molecular sieving effect. There exists a linear relationship between mesh size and temperature, D = D0 + αT (D, mesh size at temperature T K; D0, mesh size at 0 K; and α, constant). Constants D0 and α are characteristics of a ligand in a certain structure, independent of the choice of metal. As a result, all of the three MAMSs based on the BBPDC ligand have a D0 of 2.83 and an α of 0.0073.