Selective adsorptive separation of cyclohexane over benzene using thienothiophene cages

Yanjun Ding, Lukman Olawale Alimi, Basem Moosa, Carine Maaliki, Johan Jacquemin, Feihe Huang, Niveen M. Khashab

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

55 Scopus citations

Abstract

The selective separation of benzene (Bz) and cyclohexane (Cy) is one of the most challenging chemical separations in the petrochemical and oil industries. In this work, we report an environmentally friendly and energy saving approach to separate Cy over Bz using thienothiophene cages (ThT-cages) with adaptive porosity. Interestingly, cyclohexane was readily captured selectively from an equimolar benzene/cyclohexane mixture with a purity of 94%. This high selectivity arises from the C-H⋯S, C-H⋯π and C-H⋯N interactions between Cy and the thienothiophene ligand. Reversible transformation between the nonporous guest-free structure and the host-guest assembly, endows this system with excellent recyclability with minimal energy requirements.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5315-5318
Number of pages4
JournalChemical Science
Volume12
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 25 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-04-26
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRG 4
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Office of Sponsored Research-CRG 4 at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry

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