Inverse CO2/C2H2 Separation with MFU‐4 and Selectivity Reversal via Postsynthetic Ligand Exchange

Although many porous materials, including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have been reported to selectively adsorb C2 H2 in C2 H2 /CO2 separation processes, CO2 -selective sorbents are much less common. Here, we report the remarkable performance of MFU-4 (Zn5 Cl4 (bbta)3 , bbta=benzo-1,2,4,5-bistriazolate) toward inverse CO2 /C2 H2 separation. The MOF facilitates kinetic separation of CO2 from C2 H2 , enabling the generation of high purity C2 H2 (>98 %) with good productivity in dynamic breakthrough experiments. Adsorption kinetics measurements and computational studies show C2 H2 is excluded from MFU-4 by narrow pore windows formed by Zn-Cl groups. Postsynthetic F- /Cl- ligand exchange was used to synthesize an analogue (MFU-4-F) with expanded pore apertures, resulting in equilibrium C2 H2 /CO2 separation with reversed selectivity compared to MFU-4. MFU-4-F also exhibits a remarkably high C2 H2 adsorption capacity (6.7 mmol g-1 ), allowing fuel grade C2 H2 (98 % purity) to be harvested from C2 H2 /CO2 mixtures by room temperature desorption.