Adsorption and separation of organic six-membered ring analogues on neutral Cd(II)-MOF generated from asymmetric schiff-base ligand.

A new CdL(2)-MOF was synthesized based on an asymmetric Schiff-base ligand LH, which is obtained by condensation of 5-formyl-8-hydroxyquinoline and 3-pyridinecarboxylic acid hydrazide. A series of organic six-membered ring analogues, namely, 1,4-dioxane, cyclohexane, cyclohexene, benzene, cyclohexanone, and cyclohexanol, can be absorbed by the CdL(2) porous framework in liquid-phase to generate G(n)⊂CdL(2) (n = 1 and 2) host-guest complexes. In addition, the CdL(2) host framework displays different affinity for these six-membered ring substrates and can effectively separate them under mild conditions (i.e., 1, 4-dioxane > cyclohexane > cyclohexene and benzene > cyclohexanone > cyclohexanol). The empty CdL(2) displays strong green-yellow emission. Furthermore, these host-guest systems show an interesting guest-driven luminescent emission, and the emission intensities of these guest-loaded complexes are effectively reduced.