Photo Capture of Water by Single Crystals of a Nonporous Metal–Organic Material

A nonporous metal–organic material (MOM) captures water from the atmosphere under ambient conditions upon exposure to light. The water capture is achieved via a single-crystal-to-single-crystal [2 + 2] photocycloaddition. The MOM adopts an unusual condensed version of the primitive cubic (pcu) topology. The light generates isolated cavities within the crystal lattice that capture the water with overall retention of the pcu topology. The work underscores how MOMs can be advanced for controlled water capture with implications for sustainable water resource development, exemplifying how nonporous crystalline materials can be developed to capture small molecules from the atmosphere in the presence of light.