Interpenetration Symmetry Control Within Ultramicroporous Robust Boron Cluster Hybrid MOFs for Benchmark Purification of Acetylene from Carbon Dioxide

Abstract The separation of C 2 H 2 /CO 2 is an important process in industry but challenged by the trade‐off of capacity and selectivity owning to their similar physical properties and identical kinetic molecular size. We report the first example of symmetrically interpenetrated dodecaborate pillared MOF, ZNU‐1, for benchmark selective separation of C 2 H 2 from CO 2 with a high C 2 H 2 capacity of 76.3 cm 3 g −1 and record C 2 H 2 /CO 2 selectivity of 56.6 (298 K, 1 bar) among all the robust porous materials without open metal sites. Single crystal structure analysis and modeling indicated that the interpenetration shifting from asymmetric to symmetric mode provided optimal pore chemistry with ideal synergistic “2+2” dihydrogen bonding sites for tight C 2 H 2 trapping. The exceptional separation performance was further evidenced by simulated and experimental breakthroughs with excellent recyclability and high productivity (2.4 mol kg −1 ) of 99.5 % purity C 2 H 2 during stepped desorption process.