Amino-functionalized Cu-MOF for efficient purification of methane from light hydrocarbons and excellent catalytic performance

Abstract

A 3D microporous MOF [Cu_1.5(BTB-NH₂)(H₂O)₂]·6DMA·5H₂O (UPC-99) of the (2,3,4-c)-net novel topology type was successfully constructed by the amino-functionalized ligand and Cu(II) ions via a solvothermal method. Due to the presence of two channels with open Cu(II) sites and –NH₂ groups, UPC-99 exhibits a high adsorption selectivity of 15.3 for CO₂/CH₄ at 1 bar and 273 K. Remarkably, UPC-99 exhibits a significant adsorption difference in C₃H₆ and C₃H₈ relative to CH₄ and shows a high separation selectivity for C₃ light hydrocarbons relative to CH₄ (496.7 for C₃H₆/CH₄ and 410.5 for C₃H₈/CH₄ at 273 K, 1 bar) by single-component gas sorption and selectivity calculations in IAST methods. Moreover, the presence of open Lewis acidic Cu(II) sites in the channels allows UPC-99 to exhibit excellent catalytic performance in the catalytic cycloaddition reactions of CO₂ with epoxides.