Kinetic Separation of Butane Isomers Using a Formate Metal‐Organic Framework

n‐butane (n‐C4H10) and isobutane (i‐C4H10) are important raw materials in chemical industry. The separation of the two hydrocarbon isomers via distillation is challenging and energy‐consuming. Herein we report the adsorption behavior of a microporous cobalt formate framework [Co3(HCOO)6] for potential kinetic separation of butane isomers. Under ambient condition, [Co3(HCOO)6] shows near adsorption capacity for n‐C4H10 (1.77 mmol g−1) and i‐C4H10 (1.36 mmol g−1) with different adsorption kinetics. Study on the adsorption kinetic for butane indicates that the smaller isomer is adsorbed at a higher diffusion rate, resulting in a high kinetic selectivity of 193 for n‐C4H10/i‐C4H10 separation. Analyses of adsorption kinetics and breakthrough experiment have validated the separation potential of [Co3(HCOO)6] for butane purification.