Pillared Metal–Organic Frameworks Based on 6³ Layers: Structure Modulation and Sorption Properties

A series of porous pillar-layer frameworks have been prepared with 1,3,5-tris­(p-imidazolylphenyl)­benzene (tipb) as the main ligand and dicarboxylic acids as coligands. Our studies have demonstrated that tipb is prone to form a 63 layer with targeted metal ions, which could be utilized to construct pillar-layer frameworks. The structure and porous properties of the resulting metal–organic frameworks could be tuned by modifying the size, geometry, and functional groups of the coligands (pillars). Moreover, gas adsorption measurements revealed that both complexes 1 and 2 exhibit selective adsorption of H2 over N2 for the pore-size effect.