Molecular recognition with resolution below 0.2 angstroms through thermoregulatory oscillations in covalent organic frameworks

Crystalline materials with uniform molecular-sized pores are desirable for a broad range of applications, such as sensors, catalysis, and separations. However, it is challenging to tune the pore size of a single material continuously and to reversibly distinguish small molecules (below 4 angstroms). We synthesized a series of ionic covalent organic frameworks using a tetraphenoxyborate linkage that maintains meticulous synergy between structural rigidity and local flexibility to achieve continuous and reversible (100 thermal cycles) tunability of “dynamic pores” between 2.9 and 4.0 angstroms, with resolution below 0.2 angstroms. This results from temperature-regulated, gradual amplitude change of high-frequency linker oscillations. These thermoelastic apertures selectively block larger molecules over marginally smaller ones, demonstrating size-based molecular recognition and the potential for separating challenging gas mixtures such as oxygen/nitrogen and nitrogen/methane.