Adsorptive molecular sieving of aromatic hydrocarbons over cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons via an intrinsic/extrinsic approach

Abstract

Trianglimine (TI) and trianglamine (TA) macrocycles offer an efficient adsorptive molecular sieving strategy to separate toluene (Tol) from an equimolar mixture of Tol and methylcyclohexane (MCH) with 98.3% and 96.4% selectivity, respectively. Selective separation is achieved through the intrinsic cavity or extrinsic channel within the crystalline molecular absorbents, driven by C–H⋯π and π⋯π interactions. Moreover, TI and TA exhibit exceptional recyclability, highlighting their potential for sustainable chemical separation processes.