Separation of xylene isomers in the anion-pillared square grid material SIFSIX-1-Cu.

Xylene isomer separation is considered one of the seven separation challenges that changed the world. In addition, the high-energy demand of xylene separation highlights the need for efficient novel adsorbents. Herein, the liquid-phase separation potential of the anion-pillared hybrid material SIFSIX-1-Cu was studied for preferential adsorption of o-xylene and m-xylene over p-xylene, which was inspired by a previous complexation crystallization method for separating m-xylene. We report detailed experimental liquid-phase adsorption experiments, yielding selectivities of 3.0 for o-xylene versus p-xylene and 2.6 for m-xylene versus p-xylene. Our theoretical calculations thus provide a reasonable explanation that the xylene adsorption selectivity is attributed to the C-H⋅⋅⋅F interaction, and the host-guest interaction order agrees with the adsorption priority: o-xylene > m-xylene > p-xylene.