A luminescent 2D Tb-calixarene aggregate: Synthesis, structure and CH4 separation from C3H8 and C2H2

By introducing a triangular tricarboxylic acid ligand to the Tb-H4TC4A system, a two dimensional (2D) metal-organic layer {[Tb4(TC4A)2(μ4OH)(TATB)(CH3OH)(H2O)3 (DMF)]}n (CIAC-266) (H4TC4A = p‑tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene, H3TATB = 2, 4, 6-tris(4-carboxyphenyl)-1, 3, 5-triazine) was successfully synthesized by solvothermal method. It exhibits green photoluminescence with an average decay time of 5.7 × 105 ns and a quantum yield of 9.9%. The N2 sorption measurement indicates that CIAC-266 is a microporous material with the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and the Langmuir surface areas being of 444 and 504 m2·g − 1, respectively. CIAC-266 has strong affinity towards C3H8 and C2H2 but weak affinity towards CH4, providing the opportunity for the CH4 separation from these gas mixtures.