Pillararene incorporated metal–organic frameworks for supramolecular recognition and selective separation

Crystalline frameworks containing incorporated flexible macrocycle units can afford new opportunities in molecular recognition and selective separation. However, such functionalized frameworks are difficult to prepare and challenging to characterize due to the flexible nature of macrocycles, which limits the development of macrocycle-based crystalline frameworks. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a set of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) containing pillar[5]arene units. The pillar[5]arene units were uniformly embedded in the periodic frameworks. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed an interpenetrated network that appears to hinder the rotation of the pillar[5]arene repeating units in the frameworks, and it therefore resulted in the successful determination of the precise pillar[5]arene host structure in a MOF crystal. These MOFs can recognize paraquat and 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene in solution and selectively remove trace pyridine from toluene with relative ease. The work presented here represents a critical step towards the synthesis of macrocycle-incorporated crystalline frameworks with well-defined structures and functional utility.