Efficient separation of 1,3‐butadiene fromC4hydrocarbons by flexible metal–organic framework with gate‐opening effect

Abstract Efficient and economical separation of 1,3‐butadiene (C 4 H 6 ) from C 4 hydrocarbons is imperative yet challenging in industrial separation processes. Herein, a guest‐induced flexible Mn‐bpdc metal–organic framework (MOF) has been employed to separate C 4 H 6 from C 4 hydrocarbons, including n ‐butene ( n ‐C 4 H 8 ) , iso‐butene (iso‐C 4 H 8 ), n ‐butane ( n ‐C 4 H 10 ), and iso‐butane (iso‐C 4 H 10 ). Significantly, C 4 H 6 can instantaneously induce gate‐opening of Mn‐bpdc MOF at 0.13 bar and 298 K, thus significant amounts of C 4 H 6 can be adsorbed, while other C 4 hydrocarbons cannot induce the gate‐opening even at 1 bar. The uptake selectivities of Mn‐bpdc MOF for C 4 H 6 / n ‐C 4 H 8 and C 4 H 6 /iso‐C 4 H 8 are up to 40.0 and 45.0 at 298 K and 1 bar, respectively, both surpassing all the reported adsorbents. In addition, breakthrough experiments verify that C 4 H 6 / n ‐C 4 H 8 , C 4 H 6 /iso‐C 4 H 8 , C 4 H 6 / n ‐C 4 H 10 , C 4 H 6 /iso‐C 4 H 10 , C 4 H 6 / n ‐C 4 H 8 / n ‐C 4 H 10 , and C 4 H 6 /iso‐C 4 H 8 /iso‐C 4 H 10 mixtures can be efficiently separated. More importantly, Mn‐bpdc possesses excellent water stability and outstanding regeneration ability for C 4 H 6 separation, making it a new benchmark for C 4 H 6 purification.